More to Loogie than Laughs
by Tail Ring
Summary: Loogie begins to act weird, weirder than usual. His odd habits become a problem not only to the Team but to himself as well. His vivid imagination and thought process are becoming less of a dream and more of a reality...what's happened? Rated T for teens.
1. The Experience

More to Loogie

_Loogie and were walking through a place. It was quite a strange place, filled with the laughter of children and happy people. No fights, no arguments, no deliveries just a happy place._

_Loogie liked that. He liked it when people were happy, he liked it when there was nothing to worry about, he liked the fact that he could joke around and not be scolded for it._

"_This place is great!" Loogie exclaimed._

"_Oh yeah, I'm having a great time" Doctor Pinch said sarcastically, Loogie gave him a look._

"_Hey Loogie" Loogie turned around; but he didn't see anyone that was calling his name._

"_What is it now?" Doctor Pinch asked, his voice filled with irritation._

"_I thought I heard someone calling my name" He replied._

"_Hearing voices again, are you?" Doctor Pinch said in a dark tone not like his._

"_Huh?" Loogie was confused. Suddenly everyone was staring at him, all activities that were being done stopped, they all stopped to look at Loogie; even Doctor Pinch. Loogie felt very uncomfortable; normally he would love it if people were watching him doing something funny. But now it was just disturbing. 'Did I say something?' Loogie thought._

"_You don't have to say anything!" Mixed voices said in unison, Loogie was scared, everything turned dark and distorted, and people were splitting in two releasing enormous dark monster-like shadows, with either red or orange eyes. All of them were much, much bigger than Loogie. Doctor Pinch was still staring at him. Loogie gulped and started to tremble._

"_You can't get rid of us Loogie" They all said, mixed voices both male and female all a different and unique tone and pitch. _

"_Your past is here to stay Loogie; you can NEVER get rid of us!" They said, Doctor Pinch joined them in their saying of horrible words and whispers._

"_N-no! You're wrong! I can! Laughing makes you all go away!" He shouted, his eyes were welling up with tears of sadness and fear._

_They all laughed, all of them not laughing with him, but at him._

"_You're so stupid Loogie!" One of them said, its voice sounding exactly like Fizz's._

"_You can NEVER get anything right!" The other said, Loogie recognised this one as burn from its vibrant orange eyes and harsh commanding tone._

"_You're a disgusting idiot!" The one that sounded like Deets said. _

"_Stop it! Stop!" Loogie yelled, closing his eyes as hot tears fell down his face. Some of the shadow monsters giggled with delight at the sight of Loogie._

"_You're a terrible friend! No wonder no one likes you!" This monster sounded like Ed._

"_You're a disgrace to us ALL!" The last one said, it sounded like Ol' Skool._

"_You're a failure!" Doctor Pinch screamed as he disappeared into thin air only leaving a tiny trail of black smoke. Loogie's left hand was revealed, it was covered in long, red scars, Loogie screamed in pain and help down his left hand with his right arm._

"_Stop it, stop it..." Loogie whispered and fell to his knees sobbing. _

"_The medicine, it's not working, it's not working" Loogie sobbed. The shadow monsters, no, the Team pointed and laughed at him, the people whispered and yelled._

"_You're not worthy!" One of them shouted, and then continued laughing. Loogie looked up and a black hand was heading straight for him-_

"AAAAGGGHH!" Loogie screamed as he shot up of his bed, Doctor Pinch was under his right arm being held firmly down. Loogie released him.

"It's about...time...Loogie" He said in between pants. Loogie then realised that he was drenched in sweat. He remembered what happened in his dream, everything. Loogie's bottom lip trembled his eyes welled up with tears once again.

"Oh come on Loogie, don't tell me your gonna cry" Doctor Pinch criticized, Loogie broke down in tears and brought his knees up to his chest and hid his face as he sobbed quietly. Doctor Pinch patted the teen's head in attempts to comfort him.

'_They were right' _Loogie thought to himself.

'_I am a failure, I'm not worthy to anyone' _More tears fell down his face. Luckily for Loogie it was still early in the morning and yesterday had been a long and tiring one, so it was unlikely any of the team had heard him scream.

"Are you going to stop crying soon, my arm's getting tired" Doctor Pinch complained. Normally Loogie would have smiled or laughed at a comment like this, but not this time he was feeling more than a little depressed.

A short while later Loogie stopped crying, wiped the remaining tears with his right hand and got out of bed.

Loogie was still drenched in sweat so he decided to have a shower, he grabbed everything he needed and headed for the bathroom.

What Loogie did not know was that a certain little AI heard what happened to Loogie.

"Man, I hope that kid's alright" He said in a concerned tone.

Later in the morning everyone was up and surprised to find Loogie at the table. Loogie didn't want to tell anyone what happened and hoped that the experience didn't wake his friends.

"Hey Loogie did you have breakfast already?" Fizz asked, it was unusual for Loogie to be up at such an ordinary time.

Loogie just shook his head, he didn't look at Fizz or anything else for that matter her was just drawing circles with his right index finger on the table. Loogie was still traumatized from his dream and didn't like the idea of anyone looking at him. Not even Doctor Pinch.

_Well what do you guys think? More to Loogie than meets the eye, huh? This is not my first fanfiction but my first Get Ed fanfiction. I hope you all like it and please review (if there are any reviewers left!) or critique! But no flames, thank you!_

_By the way I do not own Get Ed all rights go to the official owner. Thankyou _


	2. Broken Emotions

The Team noticed something was up with Loogie. Loogie had a depressing vibe around him when normally he would be bouncing around looking for something that only Loogie would do.

Loogie silently got up from the table and walked to his room.

"What's up with Loogie?" Asked Ol' Skool as he walked in.

"We don't know, he didn't once make_ one_ voice impression" Fizz said

"He didn't laugh" Burn added

"He wasn't eating something weird" Deets added, rolling her eyes.

"Loogie just didn't seem...happy" Ed hesitated. Ed liked Loogie, even though he was a bit strange and it was sad for him to see his friend be in such a down mood. Ol'Skool had a thoughtful expression, as he left the team and pondered about this situation. Torch appeared as soon as Ol'Skool left.

"I think I know what might've happened" He stated.

_In Loogie's Room_

Loogie hadn't eaten anything ever since he woke up, he wasn't hungry.

"Well you definitely kept your mouth shut" Said Doctor Pinch.

"I didn't feel like saying anything" Loogie replied.

"Well that _is_ a first, ha-ha finally I can have some peace and quiet from your constant babbling" Doctor Pinch announced. Loogie had felt even sadder than to begin with.

Suddenly the alarm went off, Loogie got up powered up and left for outside.

The couriers were riding through Progress City, Loogie was yet again quiet. The package was of a birthday cake, unusually. The box was covered in a very elegant design and the smell emanating from the box was delicious.

Ed really wanted to hold the package but Fizz was currently 'holder of the box'. Ed reached for it and Fizz held it high (unusually XD) and she slapped his hand away.

"Ow!" Ed complained.

"No! Don't you dare eat it!" Fizz retorted.

"No, I just want to smell it!" Ed said as his grin widened as he saw the package.

"Will you cut it out Ed!" Burn snapped.

"Sorry" Ed apologised "Where is this package going to anyway?" Ed asked.

"To a house not far from the Dojo, but where the Klowns are likely to wait" Burn said.

'_Klowns'_ Loogie thought, he remembered how he left the Team for them. A wave of shame was brought over Loogie. Loogie turned to find everyone looking at him with concern.

"Loogie are you okay?" Deets asked. Loogie felt his heart race, Loogie had always liked Deets but no one ever knew, except for Doctor Pinch. He knew that she would never feel the same way, but he could dream couldn't he?

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" he replied, cautious with his actions and words. Loogie could still feel a few stares on him, so he sped up just that inch farther.

The Klowns laughter could be heard from behind Fizz.

"Ed heads up!" she said as she threw the package towards him, Ed caught it and was careful and quick with his actions. Ed was quite happy with the result as he had thought it would not have happened but also focused to make sure the cake was delivered; without it being squashed...or eaten. 

The Klowns were fast on their tracks the package was passed to Deets as she flew quickly with the package. Loogie was ahead of Deets though; he wanted to escape the stares. What he did not realize though, was that Deets was calling for him.

"Loogie!" She called for what seemed the umpteenth time, Loogie responded as he was handed down the package. Loogie sped off in front of the others, since now he had an excuse to go fast.

"Loogie!" Burn called out, but Loogie was out of hearing range. Burn was losing his temper.

Loogie skated as quickly as he could.

"You know you left the Team behind, right? Or did that not occur to you because you were thinking about _Deets"_ Doctor Pinch sniggered.

"No I wasn't!" Loogie retorted angrily in his defence. Soon Loogie made it to the destination, slowed his skating and rang the doorbell. A boy with blonde spiky hair and grey eyes appeared. Loogie recognised the boy and became uncomfortable with the situation.

Loogie _knew_ this boy, this _horrid _child as he put it.

"Do I know you?" The boy asked as a thoughtful look formed on his face.

"No you don't!" Loogie replied hastily, Loogie handed the package to the boy and left with a very quick almost inaudible 'good bye'.

"You know, Burn is going to get awful mad at you" Doctor Pinch mentioned.

"I know" Loogie said quietly, silently hoping that Burn wouldn't mind. But he knew Burn better than that and Burn was obviously going to scold him sooner or later.

Loogie met back up with the Team, Burn looked at him but didn't say anything. Ed was concerned about Loogie; Torch had told them everything that he had heard. Ed wanted to tell Ol'Skool but he knew it might not be the best thing to do. As soon as they get back he was going to _try_ and get Loogie to open up to him. As soon as they arrived Loogie was one of the first to power down and collect his cred. Ed, Fizz, Burn and then Deets collected their share of cred. Loogie walked into a quieter part of the Dojo, which was lucky because he had started to twitch.

"Crazy" Doctor Pinch mumbled.

"I'm not crazy!" Loogie shouted.

"Says the one who talks to a puppet, face it you are _weird" _Loogie was beginning to feel even more depressed and frustrated so he decided to walk around the Dojo. He had walked around for sometime; he felt empty inside. Fizz was working on an invention, as usual and Loogie decided to invite himself in. Loogie silently watched Fizz work on her invention. It was a complex contraption, a possible weapon Loogie was not sure.

Fizz, however because the invention she was working on was not piecing together as she would have favoured it to, was becoming quite angry and irritable.

"Maybe that piece sho-"Loogie was interrupted by Fizz's scream "AAAGGHH" She screamed in pain, Loogie had startled her and she had gotten a painful shock from her invention. She turned around and stared angrily at Loogie.

"Loogie, you should know better than to disturb me!" She screamed at him.

"Fizz I-I-"Loogie tried to explain but was cut off by Fizz.

"Everyone knows that NOBODY disturbs me while I'm busy!"Fizz stepped forward "Don't you know anything!?"

Loogie was hurt and the emotional wound cut deep into his heart, that wound released not blood but anger, hate, frustration and last but not least sadness. Loogie did not see Fizz as Fizz anymore; no Fizz was _one of them. They _caused him pain, _they_ caused him sadness.

Loogie grabbed Fizz and pinned her to the wall and pinned her down hard.

"I try to explain but no one gives me a chance at ANYTHING!" He yelled angrily, Fizz was terrified she had never seen Loogie like this in all her life.

"And now since you don't give ME a chance to make up for my STUPIDITY I won't give you a chance to make up for my PAIN!" Loogie screamed. He held her down with his left hand and brought his fist back intending to deliver a punch, he went out full force but as soon as he did _they_ disappeared and he was still grasping at was happening, when he did he averted the punch to the wall just beside Fizz.

Loogie came back from his world to discover he was about to hit one of his best friend's. Loogie looked into Fizz's eyes; she was absolutely terrified at what just happened. Fizz was intelligent but she had no answer for this, this was out of Fizz's league and for her to feel like that must have taken a mighty amount of convincing. Loogie had achieved just that but that was not his intention.

Loogie was breathing heavily and let Fizz down slowly against the wall. He then let go of her shirt, Loogie stood back and saw the damage he had done not only to Fizz but the wall. There was a dent in the wall, he caused that.

"He's gonna craaaa-aaaack" Doctor Pinch said tauntingly, suddenly Loogie screamed. Loogie could not control himself and was smashing things, kicking the wall and running around like a madman. While doing all of this he was screaming. Everyone rushed in, they heard earlier what had happened but only Fizz's part and had thought Loogie learned his lesson.

"Loogie what are you doing?!" Burn shouted, but Loogie kept screaming. Ol'Skool arrived at the scene and immediately knew what was going on.

"Burn, quickly grab Loogie, and hold him tight!" Ol'Skool commanded. To Ed this was all very new and it came all too quickly. He was scared; he had never seen anything like this before. Burn made haste and grabbed Loogie easily, but Loogie screamed and squirmed. Ol'Skool went right up to Loogie.

"Loogie scream! Scream, that's a good kid keep screaming!" Loogie screamed and screamed and not long after he stopped. Loogie bent his head so that no one could see his face and he cried. Burn let him go and Loogie got down, brought his knees up to his chest and hid his face. Burn went over to Fizz who looked completely shocked and stared at Loogie.

"Fizz, are you okay?" His voice filled with concern. Fizz hugged Burn unexpectedly and he held her tight.

"I know, me too" He replied as he held her tight. '_A young girl like her should have never witnessed something like this at this age'_ he thought.

Ed and Deets didn't know what to do; Loogie was still crying and didn't once look up. Ed went down to Loogie's level.

"Loogie...what happened?" Ed asked, Loogie couldn't reply. "Ed" He heard Deets say, he turned to face her. Deets shook her head; Ed understood that this wasn't the time for questions.

"Loogie, do you want to be by yourself?" Ol'Skool asked, Loogie nodded but didn't look up. Everyone quietly left, as soon as they were all out of hearing range Loogie looked up. His eyes were red from crying, he had a tired look on his face and tears were still falling.

"I give up"

_Well what do you think? Yes I must turn the Loogie we all know and love into an emotional wreck XD. Thank you guys for reviewing on my first chapter, I really was not expecting any. And yes I will be continuing because Loogie apparently has no story of his own. Ed, Deets, Fizz, Burn and Ol'Skool have their own stories, why not him?_

_By the way Loogie's disorder is called dissociative personality disorder, that's what gives him Doctor Pinch. Look it up and you'll see the reasons why people have it and what comes with this disorder. It makes a character quite flexible to use. Well enough of talking please review and critique but constructive criticism only, no flames. Thankyou _

_I do not own Get Ed all rights go to Andy Knight the creator of Get Ed._


	3. Aftermath

The Team and Ol'Skool headed into the team room where they usually got together. Everyone was silent; no one knew what to say or what to do. Fizz was very unsettled, she kept thinking at what might've caused this reaction from Loogie towards her. Was she being a bad friend? She thought to herself.

Burn was shocked; he had never seen anything like that. He had only heard stories of people reacting in that way and he had always doubted them, believing that they were made-up. Now since he saw the real thing, he feared for Fizz as she may never be the same again.

Deets was confused. Loogie had always been such a happy person...in a weird and unusual way. He may have his, how you say,_ faults _but overall he was a good person with good intentions. She had absolutely no explanation for how or why he reacted in such a way.

Ed was also affected greatly by this. Ed being brought into the world not too long ago, still learning about what is right and what is wrong didn't know if this was an intention of Loogie's. He was so confused and he felt sorry for Loogie._ 'Maybe I should tell Ol'Skool at what Torch told us.'_ He thought to himself.

"Um, Ol'Skool?" Ed asked, hesitant with what he was about to say.

"Not now, Ed-"Ol'Skool was interrupted by Ed.

"It's about Loogie" Ed blurted out "I, I mean we" Ed said referring to the Team "know something that happened to him earlier today" Ed finished.

"Torch told us that he heard Loogie scream earlier this morning" Deets added.

"Is this true?" Ol'Skool asked, Torch then appeared as if he was waiting for the right moment.

"Yes" Torch replied.

"You were waiting for the right moment weren't you" Deets said unimpressed.

"Hehe, you could say that" Torch said slightly embarrassed, Deets rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sure what happened after that, though" Torch finished.

"Fizz, how are you feeling at the moment?" Ol'Skool asked.

"I'm okay at the moment" Fizz lied "But I don't get what would make him act like that. It's so, so...not like him" Fizz said.

"I guess you kids are old enough and _intelligent_ enough to know" Ol'Skool said not wanting to leave Fizz out. Everyone was quiet wanting to get every detail they could.

"Loogie struggles to socialize and relate to others" Ol'Skool said "He doesn't know how to express himself sometimes especially when he is anxious, sad or scared he doesn't know and sometimes he has trouble saying to others how he feels" Everyone was intrigued by this, all of what Ol'Skool said seemed to be true about Loogie "Loogie seems to be happy, eccentric and maybe even a little destructive at times because he doesn't know how to act" Ol'Skool finished off.

"But I don't understand wouldn't that make him like Ed?"Asked Burn.

"Ed has only been around for a little while and Loogie has been having trouble with this his whole life, you know Loogie may never understand why people act the way they do" Ol'Skool said.

"You know Fizz, Loogie really looks up to you" Ol'Skool mentioned.

"Huh?" Fizz looked up "But why?" She asked.

"Because you are so intelligent, Loogie wishes he were as smart as you are"

"Really?"Fizz said, flattered to hear such a thought, especially by someone older than her.

"Yeah, he becomes sad sometimes though because he isn't as smart as you"

Fizz was speechless; she didn't know what to say. To hear that someone older than her looked up (Or down in this case XD) to her was something she had thought would never happen.

_In the work room_

"What do you mean?" Doctor Pinch asked.

"I'm so tired, I don't think I can do anything anymore" Loogie said sadly.

"And why are you being so mean anyway?" Loogie asked Doctor Pinch.

"I'm not being mean, I'm being realistic" Doctor Pinch replied.

"Being realistic sure doesn't sound too happy" Loogie replied. The room was silent, neither Doctor Pinch nor Loogie said anything for quite a while.

"Hmm, you are very quiet" Doctor Pinch broke the seemingly never-ending silence. Loogie didn't reply. There was a knock on the door.

"Loogie, can I come in?" It was Ol'Skool.

"Yes" Loogie said as the door opened and Ol'Skool entered. The door closed quietly behind him.

"Hey, just thought I check up on ya" He said as he sat next to Loogie.

"Thanks" Loogie said. There was yet again a silence.

"I-I didn't mean to do that...to you know...Fizz" Loogie spoke up.

"I didn't know what to do sh-she scolded me and then she disappeared and then-"Loogie said quickly but was stopped by Ol'Skool.

"Loogie, relax, go slow" Ol'Skool advised. Loogie was becoming overwhelmed by the memory. Ol'Skool brought Loogie into a hug, Loogie cried softly.

"I'm, so sorry" He said quietly.

"It's okay Loogie, you didn't mean it" Ol'Skool comforted.

"It's just that when I felt angry Fizz disappeared and she was someone else" Loogie cried.

"She wasn't there anymore and I saw that boy Richard there and, I-i" Loogie couldn't continue as he burst into even more tears.

"Loogie you'll have the day off tomorrow, I'm taking you to meet someone" Ol'Skool said.

_In the Team Room_

"I don't get it" Ed spoke up. Ol'Skool had left not too long ago and Ed was about to burst with the amount of questions he had for everyone.

"What do you mean, you don't get it?" Burn snapped, Burn was tense he _seemed _to be frustrated and confused.

"I mean, why can't Loogie just learn like I am doing right now?" Ed retorted getting annoyed at Burn's tone.

"Because Loogie _may _have a mental illness" Fizz replied "We just thought Loogie was different, don't get me wrong he is but it's not his personality it's his illness" The pre-teen finished off.

"So, you're suggesting he's sick?" Deets said.

"In the head" Fizz finished off.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ed asked, feeling left out of the conversation.

"They're talking about a serious issue" Burn stated "Ed having a mental illness is definitely not normal" Burn finished.

"And I am?" Ed retorted.

"You're a different matter Ed, a mental illness and a teen built out of alien tech are two totally different things" Deets said.

"This is more complicated than I thought" Ed said to himself.

"It is a complex matter to talk about Ed" Fizz said "No one can completely understand mental illness and some of its causes, all we have to do now is support Loogie"

"But what if he doesn't know how to express himself?" Deets asked.

"Then we'll help him" Burn announced.

"I know he can be annoying sometimes but since knowing this, I'm in" Burn said.

"So...am I?" Ed asked, he wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement. He was still kind of confused about it.

_Later that night_

Loogie couldn't go to sleep. After what he done to Fizz he could never forgive himself, he would never be able to face her ever again.

"Aren't you going to go to sleep?" Doctor Pinch asked, he sounded tired.

"I don't know" Loogie replied. _'What am I gonna do?' _Loogie thought _'I don't want to go crazy, well more than I already am anyway...'_

Loogie had never felt so alone in all his days; he feared he was turning into the person he was afraid of the most. He felt so isolated, so confused, so _useless_. Loogie pulled his blankets up closer to his face. He was so lost; he didn't want to go to sleep he felt very guilty about what he had done to Fizz. He was also afraid he'd have another nightmare. Loogie was _worrying_, the rest of the time he was too busy being full of energy to be worried about anything.

Loogie didn't sleep until much later that night; his last sleepy thoughts were of what events would occur the next day.

_Well what do you think? Have you all looked up dissociative personality disorder? It seems like poor Loogie is falling into a world of sadness. Yes, I do like making perfectly happy characters miserable, hahaha! And thankyou reviewers for supporting this story, love seeing reviews and critiques :D_

_By the way after this story I have ANOTHER Get Ed story in mind that I will write after I complete this one. So when this story finishes stick around the Get Ed section and soon enough you may see yet another story._

_Please review and critique! But constructive criticism only, no flames thank you._

_Get Ed is ©to Andy Knight all rights go to him._

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	4. Worries and Second Thoughts

The Dojo was tense. You could feel the tension in the air and when it was breathed in you were succumbed to its symptoms, irritability, anxiety, and fear. That is what the Dojo felt like the following day. Loogie's rage was overwhelming to the Dojo; all normal functions in daily life were disrupted from the events of the previous day.

Loogie and Ol'Skool had left about half an hour ago; Ol'Skool had left Burn in charge while he was away. There was nothing to talk about, nothing to do Fizz had not once even walked near the work room. Fizz had a good way of hiding her weaknesses and fears from others, when she spoke she always sounded confident, strong she even seemed that way. However that was the physical mask that hid her inner fears, her inner worries and concerns. Fizz felt that she constantly needed to prove herself because of her size and age, but it never occurred to her that Loogie felt like he needed to prove himself.

That's what she was thinking about, Loogie, what did she do wrong? Was it her fault or was this just waiting to happen and she was a random victim of Loogie's explosive and violent rage. Does Loogie try to prove himself? Does he really feel hateful to people? He always seemed so carefree and happy it never really occurred to her. He was a teenager, physically healthy and tall. She just couldn't figure it out this time, she didn't talk to Loogie or see him. Fizz _wouldn't know_ what to say or what to do. She admitted it to herself, she would be unprepared and unorganised...clueless.

Ed was in his room, laying on his bed and not doing anything in particular. He felt that the Dojo lost a sense of liveliness, it's not because Loogie wasn't present, it was because Loogie was _troubled_ and _sad. _It wasn't the same; it had felt like this for a long time even though it was only just _yesterday._ _Yesterday_, Ed thought to himself people had said a lot could happen in a minute, well a whole heap could happen in a day. '_What happened to you Loogie? What happened...'_Ed thought to himself as he sat up. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's Deets, can I come in?" Deets asked from behind the door.

"Yeah, sure" Ed said as he got up off the bed and opened the door for Deets to come in.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing" Deets replied as she and Ed sat on the bed.

"Are you feeling it too, huh?" Ed asked.

"_That _feeling?" She asked. Ed nodded in response. Deets let out an exasperated sigh.

"And to think, it was only _just_ yesterday" She said.

"So, uh have you talked to Fizz?" Ed asked as he turned to face her.

"No not yet, I'm not sure if Burn has though" Deets replied.

"Where is Burn anyway?" Ed asked.

"He's in the training room" Said Deets "He seems pretty tense"

There was an awkward silence between the two. This was one of the rare times when a bad event happened and the topic wasn't Bedlam and his goons. The silence seemed agonizingly long; however Ed and Deets didn't seem to notice. Ed was the first to break the silence.

"Deets" Ed asked, hoping to get her attention. She seemed to be in deep thought.

"Yeah" She replied half-listening to Ed and half thinking to herself.

"What if i-it happens again?" Ed managed to say.

"What are you talking about?" Ed had Deets' full attention, as soon as she replied she realised what he was talking about. She looked at Ed; his eyes were filled with confusion, anxiety and fear; basically a helplessness. She didn't know how to reply.

"What if Loogie gets worse?" Ed started with the 'What if' questions.

"What if Loogie stays like this? What if he has to leave?" Ed was panicking, fearing.

"Ed!" Deets exclaimed grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him "Get a hold of yourself! Nothing bad is going to happen to him!" Deets said indignantly, Deets loosened her grip on him "Ed, you're not the only one. I'm scared too" Deets admitted.

"I-I'm sorry" Ed apologised, obviously still a bit anxious.

"It's okay" Deets said "It's just that I have a lot on my mind right now" Deets said closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

"Then let it out" Ed said, Deets looked at him "You can talk to me Deets, let it out, I promise I won't tell anyone" Ed spoke in a caring tone, one filled with concern and somewhat a sense of relief.

"Promise" Deets questioned.

"Promise" Ed confirmed.

_In the Training Room_

Burn had just finished a training session he had organised for himself. It let him vent out his anger, his frustration and it let him beat down his fears and worries. Even as a fighter Burn had fears because not fearing is inhumane, that was Burn's belief. However Burn also believed that letting fear get the best of you was no way of living. Burn, much like Fizz, detested showing weakness however he does through his anger. Training allowed this exposing and defeating of weakness. Burn had just never known it was in Loogie or that he could use it in his favour so viciously. But did Loogie really mean it? Did he? Burn wasn't sure; he had always known Loogie to be a little...weird but never angry or violent.

Sure there were times that he got a little annoying and whatnot but Loogie wasn't the kind to be a bad sport in a game or a bully in a school, no definitely not. Burn had to admit, Loogie seemed to have a temper worse than his. And that was a problem, a _big_ problem.

_Loogie and Ol'Skool_

It had been a silent journey so far. Ol'Skool knew something from Loogie's past had reared its ugly head once again. Ol'Skool had told Ed he knew more about him than he did himself, but Ol'Skool also knew more about Loogie than anyone else did, except for Loogie and Doctor Pinch of course.

Loogie felt highly uncomfortable being outside again. He really didn't like the idea of people looking at him, even if it was just a glance, Loogie shuddered at the thought. Loogie had a dreamless sleep last night but woke up feeling tired and Doctor Pinch had to constantly speak to him that morning to try and keep Loogie as attentive as possible, well one thing was for sure Loogie was attentive now.

Ol'Skool and Loogie had finally arrived at the venue; it was a large white building that was several stories high. The place, though modern, gave off an eerie feel to Loogie. Loogie and Ol'Skool stepped inside, everything was _perfect._ Everything was aligned in rows and columns the floors looked like nobody had even stepped on them and it was deathly quiet. Loogie grew more and more nervous the more minutes he had to stay in this building.

"Anthony?" A voice said, it belonged to a smartly dressed man who was now walking towards them.

"Ah, Marcus how nice to see you again" Ol'Skool greeted.

"And who is this?" The man known as Marcus asked. Marcus was a tall man, he had brown hair and dark eyes, Marcus wore glasses and seemed very sophisticated and highly intelligent. Marcus looked like his was in his early thirties.

"This is Loogie, Loogie this is Marcus or formerly known as Mr. Sanderson" Ol'Skool introduced.

"Why does everyone forget about me?" Doctor Pinch whined.

"And this is Doctor Pinch" Ol'Skool said.

"Nice to meet you Loogie _and_ Doctor Pinch" He said, Marcus was somewhat amused by the catfish.

"Hello" Loogie said quietly, Loogie had found the man's height quite intimidating and somewhat unnatural. At the moment Loogie just wanted to bolt out of the building, it was really starting to get to him.

_Sorry for the slow update, I was busy this week and with school coming up it may not be as easy to update the story but I will continue! I still love this idea very much and I will not be abandoning this story. The first few chapters have been 'Loogie central' so I switched it a bit to get the feel of the other characters and see other views._

_I hope this didn't lack emotion as the other chapter did Fyrfly23, and whoever else thought the previous chapter did. Please review or critique! But constructive criticism only, no flames thank you._

_Get Ed is copyright © to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson is copyright © to me.  
_


	5. The Vision

Loogie had been sitting outside of Mr. Sanderson's office for a while; he didn't notice how long he had been waiting. Loogie's thoughts were consumed by an unshakable guilt and an odd fear. Doctor Pinch was not the kind to be very patient however.

"How much longer are we going to have to wait out here!" Doctor Pinch exclaimed rather irritably.

"Stop it Doctor Pinch you'll scare the little girl" Loogie replied his voice sounding unusually solemn. Doctor Pinch could only look at his odd friend, there was no one around them; the place seemed eerily empty.

Mr. Sanderson was finishing up his reports and research and was exiting his office to invite Loogie in. Doctor Pinch was the first to notice Mr. Sanderson, Loogie however did not seem to notice him at all.

"Loogie! The quack is here!" Doctor Pinch said relieved.

"You know I have a name, puppet" Mr. Sanderson retorted, surprised at how _rude_ the puppet was. Doctor Pinch sighed.

"Loogie, Mr. Sanderson's here" He said, Loogie finally seemed to snap out of his trance and proceeded to follow the older man, Doctor Pinch making comments along the way to his office.

_Ed and Deets-Dojo_

Deets sighed, trying to organise her thoughts to open up to Ed.

"The thing is Ed, we've all known Loogie to be quite...odd" She started, her voice dripping with hesitation. Ed nodded his head slightly; agreeing with the statement.

"The truth is we don't-"Deets was interrupted by Ed.

"Wait a minute, you mean there's no one like Loogie? Isn't that called unique?" Ed's naiveté was acting up "No! No that's a _different_ matter, Ed you're going to have to be prepared to put _loads_ of foreign information in that head" Deets finished.

Suddenly Ed seemed to space out, he was having a vision.

_Ed didn't seem to be in Progress City, he didn't seem to be anywhere at all. It was all black, all around him. Ed could hear something but it was very faint, it was Loogie._

"_Hello?" Loogie's voice called out, Loogie could be heard but not seen. _

"_Where are you? I'm l-lost!" Loogie sounded scared and confused._

"_Loogie!" Ed called out, it may have been a vision but it seemed very real to Ed. _

"_I don't know where I am, Doctor Pinch wheeerreeee arrreee yoooouuuuu?" Loogie's voice sounded more confused by the second. It was worrying Ed._

"_Loogie, it's me, Ed!" Ed shouted desperately, anxiety had overcome him. Suddenly laughter was heard all around the place, all of them belonged to different voices. However they were all laughing the same way-insanely._

_The laughter became louder and louder and Loogie's voice had begun to drown in the insane symphony._

"_I can't find my way out!" _

This was the very last thing Ed had heard before he had come out of his vision. He found himself waking up to three worried friends standing around him.

"Whoa...what are you all doing here?" Ed asked, the intense and strange vision had left him feeling confused and lost.

"Ed you were out for ten whole minutes" Deets said worriedly.

"Deets waited a while to see if you came out of your vision" Fizz added.

"But you didn't, whatever we tried you didn't respond" Burn finished.

"I was out for that long...And you guys were worried about me?" Ed asked once again.

"Yes, are you alright?" Deets asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, but..."Ed then noticed Fizz "Hey, you're back out again!" Ed exclaimed.

"Figured that out all on your own did you?"Fizz said, unimpressed by Ed's delayed reaction and comment.

"How are you girl?" Burn asked Fizz.

"I-I'd rather not say" Fizz managed to say but she quickly changed the topic "Ed what happened in your vision?" She asked, her tone and behaviour changed quickly and smoothly.

"My vision, yeah...it was weird" Ed began.

"What vision of yours _isn't_ weird" Burn commented.

"No, no! This one was really different..."Ed paused for a short moment "It was about Loogie" he said in a stoic manner.

Everyone's eyes widened, maybe this vision would give them clues about Loogie's past, maybe what's wrong with him.

"It was all black, I wasn't anywhere, I could see but I couldn't see at the same time" Ed began; he had already managed to place a confused look on Burn and Deets. Fizz seemed to be drifting off into her own thoughts.

"I could only hear Loogie's voice, it sounded worried and confused" Ed attempted to describe his vision as accurately as he could to his friends.

"He was calling out for help and that he was lost" Ed said.

"What about Doctor Pinch?" Fizz asked which surprised Ed.

"He was calling out to Doctor Pinch, he shouted and wailed for him and told him that he was lost and..." Ed paused, he was becoming overwhelmed with sadness "He sounded so confused and worried, I-I called out to him back but..." Ed's vision was getting blurry, he was beginning to cry. Deets approached him and comforted him by rubbing his back.

She was in shock at how much this vision had impacted Ed, especially with its seemingly complicated meaning.

Burn was taken aback but only slightly, he too was confused. His head came up with numerous thoughts, suspicions and worries about their odd team mate.

Fizz was deep in thought trying to interpret meaning into what Ed was describing to her. But she too was worrying, about how she would face Loogie.

"But he-I don't think I was meant to even call out" Ed continued "But then there was laughter, not happy laughing, but...crazy laughing, you know as if someone had told you a really funny joke or something" Not the best compatible description he had chosen, he knew, but it would have to do.

"The last thing he mentioned was...that he didn't know where he was" Ed finished, sounding concerned on the last part he mentioned.

"That _is_ a weird vision" Burn stated. There was a silence that had fallen over the couriers. Everybody engaged in their own thoughts about the vision.

"You said that Loogie was calling for Doctor Pinch...does that mean he'll lose him?" Fizz spoke up, her meaning was literal.

"Maybe we should make sure Loogie doesn't misplace Doctor Pinch?" Deets asked, she wasn't sure if it was a plan or a question.

"I think so" Burn added, his thoughts swimming in his head.

"This is confusing" Ed said placing his hands in his heads.

"Something tells me this subject will be lengthy for us" Deets uttered.

_Loogie and Ol'Skool_

Loogie and Doctor Pinch had finished their meeting with Mr. Sanderson. Doctor Pinch did _**a lot **_of the talking. Doctor Pinch had rambled and complained most of the time and had only given Mr. Sanderson very little information. Loogie just spaced out the majority of the time, the horrible guilt and fear of what it seemed to be of the building. Loogie didn't do too much to stop his friend from complaining.

Ol'Skool had been patiently waiting for Loogie and Doctor Pinch to come outside. He wasn't sure how the result would be. Marcus was quite young when he met him, maybe only seventeen or so.

An intelligent boy he was, maybe even too intelligent. Marcus grew to have a high medical degree and a habit of analysing people. Ultimately he was a doctor and psychologist in disguise. Marcus's rule was that anybody could be a psychologist with or without training.

Loogie and Doctor Pinch exited Mr. Sanderson's office.

"We're saved!" Doctor Pinch shouted, _finally_ somebody with authority. Maybe he could ask Ol'Skool to write down all the complaints he had about the whole idea and then send them.

Ol'Skool smiled, however he felt that there was only slightly off about Doctor Pinch. Loogie however hadn't changed, he still looked depressed.

"Anthony, make sure that Loogie gets lots of rest and to not pressure him into anything" Marcus said to Ol'Skool.

"Sure thing Marcus, thank you for your time" Ol'Skool shook hands with Mr. Sanderson and left.

Loogie wasn't feeling too good, he was a mess of emotions all tangled up together in one big mess. He couldn't figure himself out or anybody else for that matter. Unbeknownst to him depression was sinking into his skull.

_The Dojo_

"Do you think we should tell Ol'Skool about the vision?" Deets asked.

"I'm not so sure, I guess we should wait and see" Burn said.

"And keep an eye out for Loogie too" Ed added.

"I don't think we should let any of this information out, for all we know someone could use it to their advantage" Burn had taken up his leader role once again.

"But what would people want with someone like Loogie?" Ed asked.

"Ed there are _many_ people who like to take advantage of others" Deets stated.

"Too many to count" Fizz said a hint of agitation in her voice.

"Well Hotshot if you need us we'll be outside" Burn said as he turned and headed for the door. Fizz and Deets did the same.

Ed was left in his room to ponder about the events. But soon he felt himself drifting off to sleep, a much needed sleep to escape the events of the day.

_Haha, yes I am very much alive. I am sorry reviewers and readers that I have not updated. I have been speaking a lot to Fyrfly23 and she knows I am alive and also to Davescifi. I had a writer's block and school to deal with. But I am back! Hopefully the next chapter will be updated faster than I did with this one. As always reviews and constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thank you for being patient._

_Get Ed is copyright __to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson is copyright __to me._


	6. Switcheroo

_The Dojo_

Fizz was in her room fiddling with a contraption as if it were a rubix cube. A lot of things were on her mind, normally when she was worried she'd go into the work room and work on a project. However this was not the case today. Fizz felt traumatized and guilty, she shouldn't have snapped at Loogie like that, she should have seen it coming. He was quiet the whole day and Doctor Pinch was _not_ helping him out like he usually did.

'_It was stupid of me to say that to him' _Fizz thought as she continued to fiddle. Fizz let out a sigh, that was it she _**was**_ going to go back into the work room whether she liked it or not.

"Come on Fizz it's just a stupid room" She told herself irritably. Fizz walked to her door then she stopped. Thoughts running through her head, should she head back outside? Would any of her friends approach her and ask her questions? How long could she stay in here before she got hungry?

Fizz shook off those thoughts.

"I am going outside and that is final!" Fizz exclaimed, angry at her anxious conscience. Her door slid open; she put her head out and checked the hallway to see if anybody was there. The coast was clear, silent even. She then proceeded to walk to the work room. When she arrived she opened the door quickly and entered.

Fizz at first walked inside quickly, ignoring the atmosphere, however she then started to slow down and take in her surroundings. Fizz's pace become slower and slower, she was becoming very aware of how unusually _spacious_ the work room was. The room was cold because there was no one in there; Fizz had practically _lived_ in the work room it was always warm and inviting because she was always in there. Her inventions made her proud and made her feel happy. Now her invention seemed like a lifeless piece of metal. Which it was but _her_ inventions always seemed to have _life_ in them, they always seemed full of energy and alive they were something she was proud of.

Fizz couldn't help but feel anxious and guilty; she didn't intend or mean to upset Loogie. She was always, _always_ one step ahead. But not this time, there were signs but she chose to ignore them. Fizz couldn't help but feel incredibly stupid and ignorant to such obvious signs. She slowly approached her machine and kneeled down beside it.

Loogie's words echoed in her head-

"_I try to explain but nobody gives me a chance at ANYTHING!"_ Loogie's angry yet sad voice echoed in her head.

"Fizz? What are you doing in here?" This startled Fizz; she let out a small scream and turned to see who it was, it was Burn. Fizz let out a relieved sigh.

"Burn don't scare me like that!" She scolded.

"Sorry Fizz, I didn't mean to" Burn said apologetically.

"It's okay" Fizz waved off.

"What are you doing in here anyway?" Burn asked.

"Nothing" Fizz said half-lying, half-telling the truth.

"I know you better than that Fizz, I know you came in here to think" Burn said triumphantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Okay, okay you got me" Fizz said.

"Mind telling me what's up" He asked as he looked around the work room.

"Maybe" Fizz teased, when Burn entered the room it seemed to feel more inviting, warmer and less tense. Fizz was gradually becoming at ease.

"Come on Fizz" He said, Burn smirked. He too could feel himself becoming calmer; he enjoyed spending time with Fizz. He also liked the fact that Fizz opened up to him at times. Burn felt that this was one of those times.

"I feel terrible, I should've seen that Loogie wasn't himself" Fizz said as she sat on the floor.

"Hey don't be hard on yourself" Burn said as he took a seat next to her "Nobody saw that coming" He said.

"Yeah but you don't get it Burn! I'm always one step ahead, _always!"_ Fizz said in a distressed manner.

"You can't _always_ be a step ahead Fizz, then how would a surprise be a surprise?" Burn said.

'_He seems to have an answer for almost everything'_ Fizz thought.

"But Burn Loogie was showing obvious signs the whole time and _I_ didn't notice, then when I got angry at him, he..."Fizz stopped right there, she didn't have the ability to bring up such a sad memory.

"Fizz we _all_ didn't see the signs, not just you. Heck I didn't even know, I thought Loogie was just messin' with us and he'd turn back into his old bouncy, happy self..."On the last few words Burn's tone became lower and more solemn.

Fizz turned to Burn and gave him a small smile.

"Thanks Burn" She said as she gave him a hug. Burn was caught slightly off-guard. Fizz never really did anything like this to show her appreciation. He was a little embarrassed.

"Uh, welcome, heh" Burn said nervously, Fizz then got up and headed for the door. She turned back to see Burn still sitting, his face tinged a light red.

"Are you coming?"She asked.

"In a bit" Burn replied, Fizz then continued out the door.

_Loogie and Doctor Pinch_

Loogie had arrived at the Dojo with Doctor Pinch and Ol'Skool a while ago. Loogie wasn't sure. Loogie was in his room reminiscing about the building. How small he had felt when he approached it. It was like a large monster and Loogie felt like its victim.

He imagined everything around him becoming dark and that the building turned into large cage monster that wanted to eat him. All of a sudden Loogie became startled from his imagination and shuddered.

Time really didn't seem to pass.

"Hey Doctor Pinch" Loogie asked.

"Yes" Doctor Pinch replied.

"Have you ever wondered if all of this...was a dream?" He asked, curious to know as he himself did not know.

"Not really, no" He replied.

"Well, it kind of seems like it" Loogie replied, he then went into thought "It _always_ seemed like that" he added.

"You just want to know, if any of these things are real or what if everything _wasn't_ real. I mean what _is_ real? How do I know I'm not somewhere else, how do I know Doctor Pinch?" Loogie had begun to ask questions.

"What do you mean how do you know? You just do!" Doctor Pinch exclaimed.

"That's not an answer! Isn't stuff supposed to happen and things are supposed to be there and then there are other things that are supposed to be there that aren't" Loogie had begun to ramble "How do you know Louis how do you know?" Loogie wasn't making any sense whatsoever to Doctor Pinch.

"Loogie...maybe you need rest" Doctor Pinch said hesitantly.

"Noooo, I don't need any rest Louis" Loogie said in a British accent "Yooouuu need rest" Loogie did not normally drag his words like that; he also kept his British accent while speaking.

Loogie began to feel very strange, stranger than usual. Everything around him seemed to distort itself but at the same time not distort itself. He felt a strange feeling of _power_ overcome him, his depression seeming to argue with the new emotion.

'_Hey I'm supposed to take over!' _one argued_ 'Nu-uh meee!' _the other stated.

"Be quiet!" Loogie shouted, the two emotions stopped arguing and stayed silent. Loogie's eyes darted around quickly; he then gave a fixed stare at Doctor Pinch his face slightly twisted in a grimace.

"What are _you_ looking at?" He asked in an odd accent.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe somebody telling themselves they need rest and then proceeding to shout out randomly is _normal_ now is it?" Doctor Pinch said in a sarcastic tone.

"Is it?" Loogie asked worriedly.

"...No Loogie it's not" Doctor Pinch replied, shaking his head. Loogie suddenly switched moods.

"Well that's okay, it's not like I was normal anyway. Like you said Doctor Pinch I _am_ weird, oh but you're not the first to say that a lot of people tell that to me, like Richard and his friends and everybody around me saying 'Hey, why's that kid so weird for?' and it's not like anybody likes me" Loogie said, his voice sounded unusually cheery but you could hear hints of sadness and disappointment.

"Let's go outside!" Loogie exclaimed.

"Loogie I don't think-"Doctor Pinch began but then Loogie shushed him.

"Hey nobody shushes me!" Doctor Pinch exclaimed irritably.

"I bet I can be louder than you can!" Loogie challenged; his mentality breaking down to that of a seven year old. Loogie hastily opened his door and walked out of his room in an odd manner, shouting and saying that he could be louder than Doctor Pinch.

_So what did you guys think of this chapter? I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you guys liked that Burn and Fizz fluffiness, haha. And Loogie just keeps surprising us; he is a very complicated character you know. I'm trying to get a lot of character views in this story. Anyway please review and constructive criticism is very much appreciated. But please no flames._

_Get Ed is copyright __to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson is copyright __to me._


	7. Another One

Deets was relaxing on the couch in the lounge area of the Dojo. Her thoughts circulated around Ed's vision and it's relation to her troubled friend. Deets wasn't adept at science like Fizz but she was socially, she knew all the fast changing tricks and unwritten laws of social society. Plus she had a thing for dreams and imaginative fantasies. Ed's vision seemed to be very vague, somewhat, and not so clear. This was fogged up even more because Loogie was such an odd character and what he says, quite a lot of the time, is not meant to be taken literally or metaphorically. Well it could not be taken literally or metaphorically anyhow.

Suddenly she heard the loud shouting of Loogie's voice and a very unhappy catfish puppet.

"I can be louder, I can be louder!" Loogie shouted oddly.

"Be quiet; let's wake up Australia while you're at it!" Doctor Pinch sounded unusually angry and this anger was not sarcastic nor was it a sign of annoyance. It was pure anger.

"But I don't wanna wake up the kangaroos!" Loogie replied. Deets took a closer look at Loogie's face and found that his eyes were fixed into a vacant, confused stare his facial expressions changed quickly and kept switching from scowls and grimaces to expressions of worry and sad smiles.

Deets had gotten up from the couch and approached Loogie and Doctor Pinch cautiously with concern.

"L-Loogie, are you okay?" She asked him. Deets voice sounded incredibly distant from Loogie despite how close she was to him. He felt he had heard mixed messages.

Loogie looked up at Deets and Deets now even closer to Loogie than she was before took the chance to read his expressions and find out what was going on with him.

His eyes were still locked in that vacant and confused expression and he gave Deets a lop-sided smile. Suddenly Loogie changed motives once again, his smile turned into a scowl and he snapped up and stood straight only to begin stomping his foot down. Deets gasped and backed away.

"Hooray! The problem is now solved!" Doctor Pinch had also changed from angry to happy and yet again Doctor Pinch was losing his sarcastic and realistic tone in this event. As was Loogie losing his happiness and light-hearted quirkiness.

"Loogie you have to calm down, come on Loogie" Deets said as encouragingly as she could. Loogie was no longer shouting but he was mumbling inaudible words and Doctor Pinch was shouting out cheers and cries of joy. Deets was distressed greatly but she knew she had to keep calm as she remembered what happened to those who lose their cool when Loogie wasn't his best.

Suddenly Loogie collapsed in his little episode of stomps and odd body twists, Deets reached forward to catch him. Loogie was down and holding onto Deets' arms for what seemed like, for dear life.

"Loogie, tell me how are you feeling?" Deets asked, worry ever evident in her voice. She was now slightly freaked out by the episode, and during this Loogie and Doctor Pinch had proven to be unresponsive. Loogie was breathing loudly and heavily, he didn't know much of what happened. In that time it had been a blur of many, many voices, colours and some other things he could not explain. He was tired and once again sad.

"Deets, w-what happened?" He asked shakily not looking up to make eye contact.

"I don't know Loogie, I don't know" Deets replied.

Just then Ed has entered the lounge area, he had just finished playing a video game when he entered and noticed the scene. Ed jogged up forward as he had not seen Loogie and Deets had a look of desperation on her face.

"What happened? Loogie are you okay?" Ed asked.

"I don't know Ed; just help me get him into his room" Deets replied sounding both concerned and slightly annoyed.

"N-no, don't take me" Loogie protested weakly, he had a throbbing headache and was terribly confused and upset.

"Come on Loogie, just get up!" Doctor Pinch exclaimed "Be a man!" Odd behaviour was exhibited through Doctor Pinch once again. This motivated Loogie a little and he had begun to get up with the help of Ed and Deets as they escorted Loogie to his room.

Once the trio were inside Loogie sat on his bed and looked at them.

"Deets, what happened?" He asked once more. Deets was hesitant with her answer but replied nonetheless.

"I don't know Loogie, first you came in all loud and happy, bouncing around the place and then you stopped and after that you became angry and you looked kinda off balance" She answered.

Loogie looked at Ed and Deets, back and forth between the two.

"Y'know Loogie I think it's best to tell Ol'Sko-"Ed was interrupted by Loogie.

"No, no you can't tell him!" He shouted.

"But Loogie-"Ed had started once again.

"No, you can't tell him, you can't tell Fizz, or Burn you can't even tell yourselves!" Loogie cried out in desperation, trying to keep his episode a secret.

"Not even _I_ can tell anybody" Doctor Pinch added.

"Loogie what's wrong, please you have to tell somebody" Deets said as she sat beside Loogie. Loogie flinched slightly because she was so close.

"Loogie why are you doing these weird things?" Ed asked naively. Loogie flinched inwardly at the question.

"Ed" Deets sharply whispered as she glared at him and shook her head and mouthing the words 'Not now'.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Loogie said as he shook his head from side to side.

"Loogie knows you're trying to get inside his head!" Doctor Pinch blurted out as Loogie quietly kept saying 'no'. Loogie still shook his head but was looking down at the ground and not making eye-contact "Stop trying to get in!" He added "There's no more room!" Doctor Pinch's last sentence made Deets take a mental note of it to refer to later.

"We aren't doing any of that!" Ed cried out in defence.

"Loogie, Doctor Pinch, we just want to help!" Deets retaliated.

"Out! Please, just out! Don't tell anybody not even yourselves!" Loogie cried out desperately his tone of voice was full of anguish as he tried to push his friends out.

"Don't tell anybody not even yourselves!" He repeated. He didn't want anybody to know about anything like this that ever happened to him.

"'Cause it's so not monkey!" That was maybe the only real bit of Loogie the two had heard of since before the incident. And with that the two left his room, leaving Loogie disorientated and distraught.

Ed thought that what he had just been a part of was scary. Such things like this were never aired or heard of on television, or on the radio well it wasn't seen or heard anywhere! This was very alien to him (A/N: No pun intended). Little did he know it was also very alien to Deets, but she had kept seemingly calm the whole time?

Deets sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose; she was scared, worried for Loogie and felt horrible the entire time she had tried to assist Loogie.

"You know Deets...you were really brave" Ed said, a light blush tinging his cheeks.

"No I wasn't" Deets replied, not agreeing with what Ed said.

"Yeah you were! You kept so calm and, and in control you didn't freak or space out like I did!" He said "Deets, you should've seen yourself...you were really cool with Loogie, I'm glad I have a friend like you" Ed said sincerely, the blush getting a little darker. Deets smiled at Ed.

"Thanks Ed" She said as she hugged him. Ed was caught off guard his blush which had started off being a light red was now scarlet, Ed returned the hug and then the two separated.

"So...what about Loogie?" Ed asked, he was still coming back from La La Land, he hadn't been there for very long but it was a very nice place to be. But as he did he felt worry overcome him once more.

"Ed in all honesty I have no idea"

_Loogie and Doctor Pinch_

Loogie was tired and a little scared of himself. He had thought he had heard a voice within his mind.

"You did hear it" A voice called.

"Who said that?" Loogie asked, startled by the disembodied voice.

"Relax, close your eyes and you'll be able to see me" It said. Loogie did as he was told; he lied back and closed his eyes.

Loogie was once again in a dark area where everything was black.

"How many times have we been here?" Doctor Pinch asked.

"I don't really know" A voice replied, a figure emerged from the floor. It was a silhouette of Loogie, the silhouette had the same eye colour as Loogie did, the silhouette had no white areas of the eye nor did it have a pupil.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Brian" The silhouette announced.

_Huzzah! What did you guys think of this, eh? Poor Loogie, I think the more I write this story, the more and more attached to Loogie I get! It took me a while to write I should be sleeping now. I hope you guys enjoyed it._

_As always reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. _

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson is copyright to me. _


	8. Depth

_Loogie and Doctor Pinch_

The silhouetted figure known as 'Brian' shook Loogie's hand in greeting. Brian did not sound at _all_ like Loogie; he only looked like him, well more like a shadow of Loogie with luminescent green eyes. Loogie stood there, more than a little confused, the scenes had changed quickly he did not know if all of that was a dream of some sort. He went along with this little charade for now.

Doctor Pinch was sceptical about this figure, however he could not help but take a liking to him despite only just met him.

"What are you doing in here?" Loogie asked.

"What am I doing in here? Ha! I'm here to help ya out that's what!" Brian said in a slightly surprised tone, as if he expected Loogie to know of his existence. Loogie was more than a little confused, if not a bit afraid too and backed away slightly.

"You have to leave" Loogie demanded.

"But why, I'm here to _help_ you, they say help is hard to find" He said "Besides I know absolutely everything about you...Louis" Brian said, giving a sly smile and knowing look. Loogie was surprised at this, so was Doctor Pinch.

"I know about your whole life, I know about your schooldays, I know about your interests, likes, and dislikes" Brian said as he circled Loogie "I especially know about your family..." And with that last sentence he stopped, right in front of Loogie. Unbeknownst to Loogie Doctor Pinch slowly faded away into the background.

Loogie eyed Brian, he had thought Brian was here for another purpose but was proven wrong. He felt that Brian had a charismatic air around him; nostalgia overcame Loogie as he himself used to long for that charismatic air. He wasn't sure if he still did though. Loogie was tired, depressed and a little agitated. All he wanted was to be left alone and to not talk to anyone and here this guy was interrogating him!

"Just go will you" Loogie said irritably as he turned around. What Loogie did not know was that Brian was very patient.

"Okay then, if you don't want help from me then I'll just have to tell, what's his name again" Brian said scratching his head "Oh yeah, Ol'Skool about y'know" Brain was saying as he walked beside Loogie "That little _psychotic_ episode you just had" Brian said as he leaned and whispered darkly into Loogie's ear.

"I am _not_ crazy!" Loogie screamed as he swiftly turned around.

"And anyway you can't tell anybody! You don't have the ability to" He added.

"Are you _sure_ about that Loogster?" He said as he gave a knowing smile, eyes half-lidded as if trying to give a hint. Loogie glared at him, body leaned forward, eyes squinted but after a few seconds his expression changed his eyes opened wide and his scowl replaced with an astonished expression.

"Y-you couldn't, you _wouldn't!_" Loogie stuttered, no this guy couldn't do that, Loogie wouldn't allow it; no, no, no he can't do it!

"Oh but Louis...I can" Brian said darkly once more, hand placed under his chin "I most definitely _can_".

Ed

Ed liked La La Land, too bad he could not be there _all_ the time or else he wouldn't have to deal with the new problems that presented themselves in the real world. Ed found himself getting irritated at Loogie, but only a little, Loogie became sad, confused and refused all help given to him. Where was the happy-go-lucky green-eyed kid he once knew? In all honesty Ed could relate more to Loogie than anyone else in the Dojo, save Ol'Skool. Loogie like Ed was different, but in his own way of course, and Loogie had his bouts of naivety too, Loogie had never gotten frustrated with Ed when he asked questions.

Ed had never known how _alike_ he and Loogie where until now. Well the side of Loogie he was exposed to. Loogie had never known the unwritten laws of social society and 'normalness', that's what made him Loogie. But now Ed discovered there was a much darker side to Loogie. Odd and random episodes of...whatever it was...was it a tantrum?

'_No, far too extreme for a tantrum'_ Ed thought.

Was Loogie asking for attention? Maybe, maybe not.

'_Wait, wait am I making __**assumptions**__?' _Ed thought.

"No, no I can't do that, Loogie's my friend I don't have any evidence either" Ed told himself as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I've been in here too long, need to go outside" He told himself. Ed spotted Burn and told him he was going out for a while. Burn gave him permission, Ed then grabbed his hover board and left to go out. He had no idea where he was going probably the park or the bazaar or something.

Ed mounted his hover board and sped off. The atmosphere automatically felt different. It wasn't tiring and suffocating it was busy, fresh, fresh as in new not as in clean and Ed felt like he was on a different planet, right there and then. How come it was so different?

Ed loved the feel of the wind, it was nice and calming and when it was behind him it was like it had taken all his worries away with it.

Well not _all_ his worries, yet again Ed was only in La La Land for a small amount of time but it was longer than before. One worry was nagging him at the back of his head.

'_What's going to happen to Loogie?'_ It said to him. The anxious thought was a rational one but at the same time surreal. Ed had no idea how that was even possible. This anxious thought resumed its anxious cycle, new anxieties spawned from that one. Ed couldn't stay out anymore, he had to go back.

Deets

Deets had resided to her room and she flopped down onto her bed.

"Uggghh, Loogie why do you have to make it so much harder for us all to help you?" She asked aloud.

Deets, in all her time in knowing Loogie had never seen him in a bad mood. Ever...

Deets began to feel guilty, after all this time of 'knowing' Loogie, just to find out she didn't know him at all. Every piece of information in her head she had of Loogie was like a puzzle, piece by piece they came together but there were missing pieces and by the looks of it, lots of missing pieces. The puzzle expanded, revealing a bigger picture that was not seen before. Deets missed the big picture of it all; she found no links in Ed's vision, Loogie's behaviour and her information on Loogie.

Only one word could sum this all up-_confusing_.

Fizz

This was it, the moment of truth Fizz was going to talk to Loogie and apologize to him. She had been planning to do this after the encouraging talk she had with Burn earlier in the day. Fizz walked up to Loogie's door, ready. Well somewhat anyway.

She knocked on the door. It didn't open so she tried again.

"Loogie, it's me...Fizz" She said.

Loogie did not answer the door. Fizz was getting a little agitated she _knew_ Loogie was in his room. Fizz grumbled, finally at the time when she had summoned up enough courage to go see him, he would not answer the door. Fizz wouldn't put up with it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device and placed it on the wall next to the door. It activated itself the orange device gave a small 'beep' and Loogie's bedroom door was open.

Fizz entered only to find Loogie on his bed, sleeping. She walked up to him, she had the urge to shout into his ear but she didn't. Fizz saw that his expression was one of worry. Fizz sighed, there were times where she had enjoyed invading ones privacy, not this time. She exited his room and removed the device from the side of his door.

_So what did you guys think of that, eh? I liked writing this chapter it took a while but I did it. This may be my fastest update yet! And who exactly is this shady Brian character? I'd like to see what you readers think of him! Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated._

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson and Brian are copyright to me._


	9. Shout Out

_Hey guys, yup I know I didn't add Burn in the last chapter because he is to appear in this chapter. I needed to re-think the part I intended to write for him. Oh and by the way I have wanted to say this a few chapters ago but kept forgetting to. Everyone seems to imagine that Loogie has a name like Lan or Lance y'know the kinds with refined dignity? I always thought his name would be a simple one like Louis or Lenny. He never seemed like a Lance to me. A common European name would've suited._

_Well with that cleared up, on with the story!_

_~XxX~_

Burn

Burn had spent his time trying to distract himself from the problem by challenging Ed to a video game. He remembered how focused they both were to get their Omni-Rex's to the finish line first. How the video game drew them both in the whole brain focusing on nothing else but the screen and the correct buttons to press. All sounds blocked out the only thing he could hear was the game. All his responsibilities were forgotten as he entered the world behind the screen. He had always been amazed as to how video games could do that to people. After Ed had been defeated more than a few times he had gotten bored of losing and left the room. Burn, much to his dismay had to return to his own world and had to leave the pleasures of the game world.

He hated that feeling. Although he _was_ the oldest out of all the couriers he too needed a bit of fun sometimes. He wasn't serious twenty-four seven, even serious leader type people need fun time.

_Fun._

Fun linked to happy and happy linked to Loogie. Burn was suddenly reminded about the problems of his friend.

Burn was a critical person. Dignified, disciplined and responsible he kept everything in order and in check. Loogie was his polar opposite. He was odd, random, had no knowledge of manners and social conduct and caused regular chaos within the Dojo. Burn had always clashed with Loogie, there was no avoiding it. However he had always wondered _why_ Loogie could not follow simple instructions. Everybody had the ability to and everybody included Loogie.

"I may have to give Loogie a talk" Burn said to himself. He left the room and headed down the hallway, he spotted Fizz.

"Hey girl, how are you doing?" He asked.

"Okay" She replied, disappointment in her voice.

"If you want to talk to Loogie he's sleeping right now" She told him.

"How did you?" Burn asked not being able to finish his sentence.

"Come on Burn everybody wants to tell Loogie something or try to make him talk" Fizz said. Burn was _sure_ Fizz had just read his mind.

Just then Ed walked into the hallway.

"Hey guys, what are you up to?" Ed asked.

"Burn wanted to talk to Loogie but Loogie's sleeping right now, so he can't" She said.

"Hey, I can speak for myself!" Burn exclaimed, all Fizz could do was giggle at his comment.

Ed had a worried expression on his face as if he were suppressing something. Ed bit his lip and rubbed his arm, still wearing that worried expression.

"You okay Ed?" Burn asked.

"Yeah you seem a little-"Fizz began but was cut off by Ed.

"Loogie was acting all weird again, I don't really know what happened because he was with Deets and Deets told me to help and-"Ed blurted out suddenly, it was as if Burn and Fizz had interrogated him into saying something.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa calm down Hotshot!" Burn advised; it was sudden if not a little amusing as to how Ed reacted so suddenly.

"Okay Ed let's calm down and breathe" Fizz said as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Fizz demonstrated deep breathing to Ed, Ed then began to take deep breaths. After that though he realised what he had blurted out to Burn and Fizz.

"Oh snap, Loogie told me not to tell that he had one of those weird tantrum thingies! And now he's gonna-!"

"ED!" Burn and Fizz shouted in an unintended unison.

"Okay, let's sit down and have a little talk" Fizz suggested, well aware of the information Ed had just given away.

"And please, a little slower this time" Burn added as the trio walked out of the hallway. This had been quite an unexpected reaction from Ed. Burn thought Ed would've just talked about where he went and what he did. Apparently Burn was wrong.

'_Mental note: Do not trust Ed with very, VERY, important secrets'_ Burn thought. He smiled slightly in amusement as to how much Ed reminded him of a pre-schooler with a secret they couldn't keep.

The trio sat themselves on the table. Ed was pale and looked a little guilty.

'_He must've made it so that he had a lot of pressure on himself'_ Burn thought. He knew that feeling delving yourself into your own thoughts and making something seem more serious than it was.

"So, about Loogie" Fizz started off, she wanted Ed to finish the sentence. Like a teacher trying to hint the answer to their students.

"Um, yeah...it was just about everything I said" Ed said, obviously not knowing how to construct his reply. He was quite hesitant.

"Loogie had another outburst didn't he?" Burn stated. It sounded more like a statement rather than a question. Ed could only nod his head slowly; he didn't dare give eye-contact.

"He told Deets and I n-not to tell anyone, not even ourselves" Ed replied, Loogie's demand echoing in his head.

"I think this may be getting out of hand" Burn said sternly "We gotta tell Ol'Skool 'bout this" Burn said as stood up planning to leave the table. Suddenly Ed shot up out of his seat.

"N-no you _can't_ tell Ol'Skool!" Ed said pleadingly "I already broke Loogie's promise I don't want to break it even more!" Ed was desperate he had felt horrid about blurting out all the things that Loogie had specifically told him not to talk about. Even though Ed did not confirm Loogie it was a promise, he felt as though it was.

Burn was astonished. The boy who respected Ol'Skool so much, the boy who confided to Ol'Skool all his problems refused _important information_ to reach his creator (A/N: Please correct if wrong, I can't remember properly). Burn could only stare at the boy in astonishment. His blue eyes were practically _begging Burn_ into not telling Ol'Skool.

Fizz was stuck in the midst of this. She knew Ed was very loyal, especially to his friends and especially to Ol'Skool. But this was important with a capital I! The poor boy was torn between two people his creator and one of his best friends. One to which he had given a promise to (from Fizz's knowledge) and had just broken it.

"Please Burn! Please!" Ed begged him. In all honesty Ed did not know how to help Loogie, he didn't know whether to tell Ol'Skool or not. But he decided he wouldn't tell. After all he did not know where Ol'Skool took Loogie earlier in the day. It may have been fine for Ol'Skool but not for Loogie.

Burn sighed in defeat, Ed sounded so desperate and he felt bad just _thinking_ about telling Ol'Skool.

"Okay I won't tell him, for now" Burn said "But if we don't tell Ol'Skool then we're going to have to talk to Loogie ourselves".

"Easier said than done Burn" Fizz mentioned.

Loogie and Brian

"Please don't do it!" Loogie begged. He knew exactly what Brian was talking about. It had happened to Loogie before. In the past Loogie had more than one personality pop up, a personality he could not represent via puppet. When it was time for that new personality to have its say Loogie would 'switch out' and the new personality would 'switch in'. During these times Loogie had no knowledge of what it would say and would often get into trouble when switching back in for whatever the new personality said or did.

Loogie always took the blame; he had absolutely no control over it. This did happen with Doctor Pinch, but Doctor Pinch was a 'permanent resident', letting people know that it wasn't Loogie talking. Kind of.

"Okay, I won't" Brian said raising his hands up in defence. Despite him not knowing what he was defending himself from exactly. There was a small silence. Loogie was relieved but practically frozen in fear; Brian had a _lot _of control over him. He just proved it by the way the conversation was going, he had control over how he felt, and he had control over his intentions. Loogie was worried sick.

Brian was incredibly cunning and intelligent. He wanted permanent residence in Loogie's mind. He was very manipulative, but he did not want his selfish intention to show just yet. Although he had made Loogie very well aware that he was dangerous, he had to show that he wouldn't do anything...much.

"Listen if ya need me, I'll be here I promise" Brian began as he lifted his hand in the air "No wait scratch that I _swear_ I will not do that!" He said.

"I, Brian, swear and promise, _swearmise, _to never _ever_ do _that_" Brian said all in time placing his right hand over his 'heart' and raised his left hand in pledging.

Loogie did not trust Brian, but he had no choice. There was no way to get rid of him.

"Listen Loogster" He said as he approached Loogie "I won't do that unless you let _me_, help ya through okay?" He said as he placed an arm around Loogie in a friendly manner. Loogie was as stiff as a plank of wood.

"Y'know I'm the kinda guy that tells ya what to say when you're cut short on what to say" He said.

"Umm..." That was all Loogie could respond with. Again fast change affected him in a negative way.

"Like now, y'know I'm the finisher of your sentences or the adderer, eh y'know what I'm talkin' 'bout" He said as he pulled away from Loogie. He had a thing for making up words.

"And I know ya find it hard sometimes to know what people mean and what they're thinking and stuff so I'll advise you on that too" He said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Actually it looked more like his hands disappeared where pockets should be.

"So basically you give your opinion on people's actions" Loogie replied.

"Pretty much, yeah" Brian said nonchalantly. Loogie grumbled, there did not seem to be an easy way to get rid of him. He was getting angry; he wanted to be left alone that was _all he wanted_, nothing more nothing less.

"Listen you leave me alone and I'll let you do that, alright?" Loogie said as he turned away.

"Alright I guess that's settled" Brian replied, satisfied with the response he was given. Loogie walked away and Brian left for the deeper recesses of Loogie's mind.

_~XxX~_

_Yeah I found a new page breaker. I enjoyed writing Brian's part; he's a charmer isn't he? Yep I did fast environment switches I know and that was intended. Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated. So are views on how the story is developing so far._

_That will be all._

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson and Brian are copyright to me. _


	10. Going Downhill 100 miles an hour

Loogie

Loogie walked away from Brian, and further into the empty darkness.

"I'm not crazy" Loogie told himself as he continued to walk. Brian was wrong, he wasn't psychotic. Something at the back of his head told him otherwise.

'_You sure about that?'_

"Yes, I'm not crazy, just different" Loogie replied. Loogie continued to walk, his arms wrapped around himself.

'_Who do you think that guy was? The one Ol'Skool sent you to'_

"Dunno, someone" Loogie replied. Loogie did not have a clue he was talking to himself.

'_He's one of _them_'_

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

'_He sends crazy people to the crazy house'_

Loogie stopped walking and froze.

"I'm _**not**_ crazy!" Loogie shouted, his voice echoed within the empty darkness. The darkness replied with the repetitive response 'crazy'. The voice stopped talking. Loogie looked around for it. It never appeared.

"Don't think I don't know!" Loogie shouted angrily.

"I know you're mocking me, shut up, I'm not crazy" Loogie shouted once more, only to hear 'crazy' be repeated back to him. Loogie screamed loudly, he felt tormented and mocked, just like back in the day. He turned and slammed his fists on the black wall that had not been there moments ago. Loogie stood like that for a minute before sliding down onto the ground; his hands clawed onto the wall as he slid down.

The faint voices of chanting children could be heard, they all giggled and sneered.

"Louis is a weirdo, Louis is a weirdo" They all said. Loogie did not move or react. The childish voices giggled in delight.

"No Louis we don't let _crazy_ people join!"

"Go away, we don't want you!"

"No one can be _that_ slow!"

"Who the snap, talks to a puppet? Get lost!"

"Stop bothering everyone will ya?"

The voices from his memory long forgotten flooded his mind. Loogie realised he was going downhill and fast, he had no way to stop himself. He did not know what was going to happen to him. He knew there was no one to help him.

Brian

Brian decided to take a better look at Loogie's mind. He had been lurking through the empty darkness for a while and was getting bored.

"Black, black and _more_ black, ugh this is stupid what am I gon-"Brian began but stopped when he felt something press beneath his weight. Brian took as small step back and placed his silhouetted foot down; the area sank into the ground slightly. Brian pressed his foot harder on the area and it opened with a small, eerie squeak. The black tile hung on its hinges as it revealed a lower level, slightly brighter than the darkness. Slightly startled Brian stepped back, once he found that there was no danger he walked up to it and leaned over the edge to get a better look.

"Whoa...jackpot!" Brian said triumphantly. He jumped down into the opening and shut the trap door behind him.

"Well, lookie here" Brian said as he clasped his hands in delight. Brian had entered the lower level of Loogie's mind and found himself in a spacious room. This room was considerably brighter than the level above it. On the dark grey walls words were written in a silvery white colour, giving off light.

"Hmmm, school was stupid today; as usual no one sat with me-oh! These are Loogie's memories of school!" Brian exclaimed in realisation. Brian continued to read silently, he had lied about knowing a lot about Loogie. Brian could turn the biggest lie in the world and make it sound like the truth. (A/N: Told you he was manipulative).

Okay, so he did know _some_ stuff about Loogie, so it wasn't a _complete_ lie. Brian continued to read quietly as he pondered about such matters.

"Wow, tough crowd" He said as he scratched his head.

"These people seem to be almost as bad as me...almost" Said Brian, impressed. Brian then wore a cunning smile as he rubbed his hands.

"These things give me some ideas, _thank you_ Loogie's tormentors, heha!"

_~XxX~_

_Early next morning..._

Fizz

'_Beep, beep, beep'_ Fizz's alarm screeched, Fizz slammed a fist down on the annoying contraption and it stopped its irritable beeping. Fizz rose from her bed, stretched out her arms and rubbed her eyes.

Fizz grabbed her clean clothes and went for a quick shower. Ten minutes later Fizz was out of the bathroom, her wet towel and dirty clothes hanging off her arm as she quickly combed her short hair. She placed her dirty clothes in the laundry basket of her room and exited it once more.

Fizz walked down the hallway; however she stopped when she passed Loogie's room. Something was off. There was something not right, the feeling tugged at her conscience. Suddenly Loogie's door opened, this startled Fizz and she turned around. Loogie was also surprised.

"Loogie" Fizz said.

"Fizz..." Loogie replied quietly. The two of them stood there as an awkward silence invited itself over and hovered above Loogie and Fizz.

"Loogie I wanted to uh, apologise for what happened...the, uh, other day" Fizz said hesitantly. Loogie stared at her with hurt, guilty eyes; he took a small step back.

"Loogie, please I know what I did was stupid the other day but-"Fizz began, fearing Loogie was walking away. However he did not.

"No Fizz" Loogie said, Fizz thought he was rejecting her apology and immediately began to feel awful. She bowed her head.

"You're not the stupid one, I am" Loogie said quietly.

"Huh?" Fizz said, looking up at him.

"You're too smart to be stupid, I'm the stupid one, I shouldn't have been in the room, I'm the stupid one" He said, pointing to himself.

"I'm stupid, I am, not you" Loogie became repetitive. Fizz took notice that the whole time Doctor Pinch did not contribute to the conversation. He did not look at Fizz, he did not speak a word; he hung at Loogie's side, silent. Loogie began to back away very slowly.

"Loogie are you sure you're okay?" Fizz asked, concerned as she took a small step forward. Loogie backed away, still facing her.

"Loogie, what's wrong?" Fizz pleaded as she grabbed Loogie's wrist to stop him from moving back. Loogie looked back and forth from Fizz's hand holding his wrist to Fizz. Loogie pulled back but Fizz's grip tightened, she would not let go.

"Fizz...please, don't" He told her quietly, his eyebrows knit together to form an anguished expression. Fizz's grip on his wrist softened.

"Loogie..."She said trailing off, her eyes begged him to confide to someone.

"Hey Fizz!" Burn called from outside of the hallway. Fizz turned her head to the direction of his voice, she let go of Loogie's wrist. When she turned back he was gone.

"Hey Fizz, how're you going?" Burn asked her. Burn was definitely a morning person. Fizz shot Burn a look.

"What?" He asked her, oblivious to what he had done.

"Burn, I was talking to Loogie!" She whispered harshly.

"Why are you whispering?" He asked her, ignoring the reason as to what she was doing moments before. Fizz did not notice she had whispered, she had figured it was because when she was talking to Loogie he spoke quietly. So she must've slipped into quiet-talking or whispering without noticing.

"Burn, there's something _wrong_ with Loogie, something _very_ wrong" She said as she continued to glare at her superior indignantly. She wanted to emphasise the problem to him.

Burn sighed.

"I know Fizz...I'll talk to him today, in private" Burn said, he smiled down at his younger friend.

"Everything's going to be okay" He said as he ruffled her hair.

"Hey! I just combed my hair!" She exclaimed as she lifted his hand off of her head. Fizz then began flattening her hair; Burn gave her an odd look.

"What? Just because I'm a tomboy doesn't mean my hair has to be messy, I do like to look orderly y'know" She retorted as she continued fixing her hair, Burn chuckled at the reply she gave.

"Oh, ha ha, Fizz fixing her hair is so funny because it means she's a girly girl" Fizz said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna go eat breakfast" She said as she exited the hallway; with a laughing Burn following her close behind.

Deets

Deets had her ear pressed against her door in attempts to listen to Fizz and Loogie's conversation. However they both spoke too quietly or maybe they did not speak at all she was not sure, all she knew was that she was missing out on information she needed. She was frustrated but that frustration did not last long as the conversation that Fizz and Burn were having made her giggle.

However she had to return her mind to more important matters. Deets decided to write down the vision Ed had and described to her, she also wrote down Loogie's symptoms of his episodes. Deets tapped the end of her pencil on her desk in thought. The room was silent; the only noise inhabiting it was the tapping of her pencil. Deets' thoughts and ideas swam around in her head.

Deets underlined 'Loogie alone' from Ed's description and underlined 'secretive, wanting to be alone' on Loogie's list of symptoms. She was onto something, she was sure of it. She just had to be patient and keep going with whatever evidence she had.

'_This may take a while'_ Deets thought to herself.

Loogie

Things were going downhill for Loogie fast, very fast. Loogie was sitting down on the couch, alone, but at the same time not alone. He was accompanied by anxious thoughts.

"Fizz apologised when I should've" He thought aloud.

"I didn't even say sorry to her"

'_Listen, in my opinion, I think that went okay. At least y'know she doesn't hate ya' _it was Brian, giving his opinion.

"Hey, how'd you?" Loogie began to ask, but before he could finish Brian answered him.

'_Hey man, I don't have to switch in to talk to you, 'sides remember my _swearmise,_ to ya? I'm loyal to my word Loogster' _Brain replied. Now _that_ was the honest truth. Well about as honest as Brian could get.

Loogie was getting irritated; he had woken up uneasy and had tumbled out of bed. He did not like Brian, but Brian would not go. Loogie had told him to do as he wished, as long as Loogie did not have to talk to him last time they spoke. However that deal only lasted for a short time. Not a good move.

"Hey Loogie" a voice replied from behind.

'_Gotta go'_ Brian kept quiet after that.

Loogie's eyes darted to the side to find that it was Burn. The gates of anxiety and fear once again opened in Loogie's mind as the thoughts invaded his head. Burn sat down on the other end of the couch, which was not very far in truth.

Loogie sensed a calm, sociable air around Burn. That was very rare to see or feel around him as Burn was usually so strict, tense and constantly on guard of everything; especially on himself. Burn and Loogie's aura's always either seem to collide or tolerate each other, but only just. However this time Burn's calm air grated on Loogie's tense and paranoid form.

Burn noticed Loogie's stiffness, but he figured that if he kept calm Loogie would ease into the relaxed state Burn felt. Loogie was paranoid; he did not notice that Doctor Pinch did not talk to him or anybody else for some time. Burn did not notice this either.

"Loogie, is there something on your mind?" Burn asked calmly. Loogie's eyes slowly made their way to Burn; Loogie sat there stiff and uncomfortable.

"Maybe...why are you asking?" Loogie asked, suspicious of Burn. Burn's patience was already starting to wear off, but slowly. Burn rolled his eyes.

"Loogie isn't it obvious as to why I am asking?" He retorted. Something inside Loogie clicked, he turned to face Burn.

"You're _on_ to me, aren't you?" Loogie uttered harshly.

"What?" Burn replied, what lead to Loogie saying this?

"Don't lie to me; I know you're trying to get something from me" Loogie accused as he stood up and clenched his fist. Loogie's paranoia escalated to a level he thought was realistic, when it was obviously not.

"No Loogie, but there's somethin' _wrong_" Burn replied, he too stood from his spot. Burn's patience was once again tested and he was failing.

"You don't know _anything_!" Loogie's voice escalated to a dangerous level.

"Ed told me what happened!" Burn shouted out. Loogie's angry demeanour practically ran away. It was replaced by shock, Loogie took a small step back, as if re-enacting the scene that happened earlier in the morning. Burn realised as to what he had just said, however Burn was Ed's superior, and he could tell Loogie that he knew of the event regardless of what Ed thought. Burn's ego was eating away at his fair thinking.

"H-he _told_ you?...Ed, why?" Loogie muttered and looked down at his hands. He spoke as if Ed were there, or in his hands to say the least. Burn had just about lost his patience with Loogie.

"That doesn't matter! What matters is you need to tell us what's happening!" He exclaimed and pointed at Loogie. Psychological reasoning wasn't something Burn had expertise in.

"No!" Loogie retorted.

"Loogie you're **crazy**!" Burn's anger controlled him like a mindless puppet. A thought once silenced by sympathy and tolerance was revealed at the worst possible moment.

_~XxX~_

Fizz could hear the escalating angry screams of Burn and Loogie. She was situated in the kitchen and had just finished eating her cereal when she heard the two arguing. Fizz peeped through to the lounge room to see both of them in a heated argument. Fizz felt fear well up inside her and she ran into the hallway, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. She saw Ed running up.

"Ed! Ed!" She cried as she ran up to him.

"Fizz what's wrong? What's with the noise?" He asked, worried.

"Loogie and Burn are arguing!" She said, she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Ed's eyes widened in shock, _'He didn't...he wouldn't'_.

"C'mon what are we waiting for? We need to get Deets and Ol'Skool!" Ed exclaimed, he grabbed Fizz's wrist and ran for their respective rooms. It was certain that in times when Burn and Loogie argued it could not end well. Not at _all_.

_~XxX~_

Burn and Loogie

Rage gave Burn a full supply of negative energy, it practically radiated out of the young man.

"You can't just go all, _wack_ on us without tellin' us!" Burn exclaimed as he took a step forward.

"You almost hurt Fizz with your crazy behaviour! I've let you go too many a time Loogie!" Burn criticized. Burn had revealed emotion that lay buried within him, thoughts that would come up from time to time. Thoughts that Burn had fuelled slowly over the countless times he had seen and scolded Loogie for doing something odd. He was a critical person with rigid thoughts and buried emotion.

This was the very reason Loogie did not want Deets or _Ed_ to tell _anyone_ of such events. Because they'd all know what a messed up mind he owned. Loogie now realised something. Everybody treated Doctor Pinch like a normal person, and he was a puppet! Doctor Pinch was saner than he was! Everyone was right; he was a weirdo, a wack job..._crazy_. Loogie despised that word with every fibre of his being. It was the very word that had made him an outcast in Progress City.

Loogie was going one hundred miles an hour downhill.

_~XxX~_

Ed knocked loudly on Deets' door, all the while holding Fizz's wrist.

"I'm not a baby y'know, you can let go" Fizz may have been very upset, but she didn't need her wrist to be held for support. Ed let go and Fizz rubbed her wrist.

"Fizz you wait here for Deets to answer, I'm going to go get Ol'Skool" Ed said quickly before dashing off to Ol'Skool's room.

Deets had been too focused on her task to notice any of the goings on outside, plus barely any noise from the kitchen or lounge room would even arrive at her door.

Deets rolled her eyes and opened her door. She expected to see someone like Burn come in and give her orders but instead she found a distraught Fizz.

"Deets, Loogie and Burn are having a big argument!" Fizz exclaimed "I-I don't know if anyone can stop them!" She added.

"Oh no...Where's Ed?" Deets asked.

"He's gone to get Ol'Skool" Fizz said. As if by magic the two appeared near the girls.

_~XxX~_

"You're the one who's crazy, I don't have anger problems!" Loogie screamed, quite angrily which was hypocritical of him.

"Watch it" Burn warned. Suddenly something inside Loogie snapped.

_Loogie's flashback_

_A young Loogie had arrived home from school. His fists where clenched at his sides, he made no eye contact and walked at a fast pace. Loogie entered his house, it was large and no one was home yet. Loogie tossed his school bag roughly near the door and made his way to his room._

_Loogie's brisk walk now became a stomp. His brown sandals collided with the hard floor, it hurt the young Loogie's feet, but he did not care. He entered his room and stopped in front of his large mirror._

_Loogie glared at the boy staring back. The boy wore brown sandals, navy blue shorts and a light green t-shirt with blue swirly patterns at the front. _

"_Now listen hear, you" The young Loogie said as he pointed an accusing finger at the boy in front of him._

"_You'd better stop mucking around and stop acting...y'know" He said, Loogie felt his breath getting short. The day had been worse than usual. He had been ridiculed and had gotten in trouble with his teacher. His class mates continued to tease him; he didn't even know what he did that caused it! There was always something wrong with him, he was always too weird, or couldn't reply to the question fast enough, or lost concentration and was often left out. It made him feel like an outcast. Like he was crazy..._

_Loogie's face twisted into an ugly scowl, he drew his left hand back as he stared into the reflection's eyes. That was the last thing Loogie saw before he blanked out. He was not sure what happening but after a good thirty seconds everything re-appeared again. Loogie saw the mirror shattered into a million, sparkling pieces scattered all over the floor. His hands had shards of glass in them and blood trickle from the cuts._

_Loogie panicked, he felt the sudden pain and warmth of his blood. It was excruciating._

_End of flashback._

Burn's rage had clouded his thinking and made him blind, almost literally. The adrenalin in his body still pumped fast as he desperately tried to calm himself. He did not notice Loogie's eerie, vacant state. Suddenly Loogie screamed.

"It hurts! It hurts bad, aaaggghhh!" Loogie shrieked. Burn came back to reality and saw Loogie had screamed for no reason.

"Make it stop, make it stop!" Loogie cried once more. Burn was confused and did not know what to do.

"Loogie, what's wrong?" Burn demanded.

"It hurts!" Loogie screamed, Loogie backed away and into the wall. Loogie had felt a sudden shockwave of pain through his hand and he was feeling dizzy. Loogie felt himself becoming disoriented; he had to tell Burn to get out and away from him.

"Burn!...Out, nnnow!" Loogie demanded. He was desperate to have Burn leave and not watch him get into the episode while he still had some control. Burn did not know what to do.

'_Oh snap! I just repeated Fizz's mistake, even after advising her on it! Stupid!'_ Burn thought. It was the same situation Fizz had gotten herself into, anger seemed to set Loogie off.

"Burn! Go-aaagghhh!" Loogie screamed, he couldn't finish his sentence. His body was disagreeing with his mind. Burn finally listened to Loogie and left the room in a hurry.

Loogie's episode continued to manifest itself. Loogie's paranoia fuelled it, but Loogie did not know that. Random sounds where heard, familiar and unfamiliar voices came to hearing. He had lost his balance and stumbled around the room. He felt very upset and was on the verge of tears.

"Alllll of the other reindeeeer, used to laugh and call him names, they never let pooooor Rudolph join in any reindeer games" He cried. Loogie felt like Rudolph, he always felt left out and was teased and was called the word he hated the most in the world. He never knew why every Christmas people sang that sad, sad song so happily. They ignored the fact that Rudolph was always left out and teased.

Loogie stomped, screamed and clawed at his head. He banged on the walls, sure of a camera somewhere within them and he yelled out random phrases from his memory without his own knowledge. Loogie's emotions had tangled up and he could not undo them, because _he_ was trapped in them...

_~XxX~_

_What did you think? I thought it was okay, I had trouble writing Loogie's third psychotic episode. I did not know what he could do. Anyway yes you guys have been treated with a very long chapter! Don't worry other characters will appear in the next chapter. Here my main focus was with Loogie, Burn and a little bit of Fizz._

_Also looks like Doctor Pinch has been forgotten...I wonder what has happened to him..._

_Note that these episodes are all VERY REAL symptoms of the mental illness classifications that Loogie fits into. The show has missed A LOT of that out. Everything weird that has happened to Loogie does happen to those with dissociative personality disorder._

_Reviews, opinions and constructive criticism are always greatly appreciated._

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight._

_Marcus Sanderson and Brian are copyright to me. _


	11. Confusion

Burn ran out of the lounge room and into the hallway. Burn felt a sledgehammer of terror hit him square in the chest. He, the fearless Burn, was running away from a terrifying situation. It was not one where riot bots were attacking him, or where he had to face Bedlam, he was running away from a friend. A friend who he caused distress to. What Burn did not realise was, he _feared_ human emotions. He was _scared_ of losing control of anxious thoughts or _anger. _He was afraid of his mind being succumbed to emotions and let _them_ take control of his body.

Both of his biggest fears, he had faced just now. His mind tempted anger to control him and his friend was seduced by emotions unknown to Burn.

Burn began to feel dizzy and clammy, he didn't know why though.

"Burn!" He heard Ol'Skool call "Burn where's Loogie?" Ol'Skool asked as he walked up to the seventeen year-old.

Ol'Skool saw something in Burn's eyes he had never seen before. Doubt and _fear_.

Ol'Skool placed his hands on both of Burn's shoulders; he felt Burn's fear emanating faintly from his body.

"Burn, I want you to relax and tell me" Ol'Skool said as he looked Burn in the eye "Where's Loogie?" He asked once more, his voice thick with unusual seriousness.

Fizz thought her eyes were deceiving her. Her older friend looked pale and defeated. She felt afraid for him yet angry at him for betraying her. Afraid, because he was in a state she had never before seen. Angry, for not listening to her warning and for not taking Loogie's strange behaviour seriously. Fizz did not care for masking her emotions anymore; she wanted to show them, so that she could be taken seriously. However her brain was set to default and she remained quiet; she did not show any emotion.

Ed was nervous, he felt like he was going to throw up. Ed's hand placed itself on Fizz's shoulder and squeezed it, as if asking from some sort of comfort or explanation from her. Ed didn't want to know what would happen next, he wanted everything to stop, he wanted to go back in time. Ed wanted a lot of things, but never got them. He hoped that this whole thing was a horrible, horrible dream. Too bad it was not.

Deets fiddled with her fingers; she was too afraid to look at Burn. To see his mood, his reaction, she did not want to know. Why had Ol'Skool asked him where Loogie was though? She could _hear_ Loogie just as well as anyone else could. Maybe Ol'Skool wanted some sort of closure, maybe he was trying to find out what happened. Deets wished she was in that 'zoned out', fully focused phase she was in while she was in her room. She wouldn't have to feel the pressure of the happenings around her.

"Burn, where's Loogie?" Ol'Skool asked once more, his eyes where serious and lost their usual laid back tone.

"H-he's gone..." Burn uttered, still in shock. Burn was right, Loogie was indeed _gone_. Ol'Skool furrowed his brow and waited for another response.

"He's in the lounge room" Fizz blurted out, she could not stand the tension any longer.

"I saw him there" She said, looking up at Ol'Skool. Ol'Skool let his hands slide off of Burn's shoulders.

"Listen you guys" Ol'Skool said turning his attention to the other three couriers.

"Stay _out_ of the lounge room" He commanded "We will have to wait until he settles" He said placing his hands behind his back.

"Deets" Ol'Skool directed his attention towards her, Deets quickly looked up "_You_ are in charge, Burn is in no state to, make sure _no one_ enters the _room_, got it?" Ol'Skool said; his voice hard and commanding and his eyes determined, yet...anxious.

"Yes Sir" Deets obeyed.

"As for what will happen to Loogie, if he doesn't settle in an hour...I'll have to call an institution to collect him" Ol'Skool announced, it hurt him greatly to say such a thing, however he would not be able to handle this if Loogie continued. He suspected other things had happened without his knowledge. In the background Loogie's voice seemed to die down, but Ol'Skool knew better.

"A hospital won't know how to treat him and...neither do I" He said, attempting to explain the situation to the couriers.

Fizz's eyes widened slightly, she did not expect to hear something from somebody she respected so much, someone she believed knew what to do in every situation _and_ handle it. She then remembered something-he was human.

Ed was confused at Ol'Skool's statement. No hospital? An institution _collecting_ Loogie? He made it sound like Loogie was a package. Ed was frustrated at his inability to understand and was deeply worried for Loogie.

'_Does Progress City even have those anymore? Do they even exist anymore?'_ Deets thought. Such things she had only heard of happening to those hundreds and hundreds of years ago. She remembered hearing her teacher for History briefly explaining it to the class; but even then a student had asked him. After that, it was never brought up again. Until now.

Burn took in the information; he couldn't help but feel the hefty weight of the acceptance of responsibility force itself onto his body. Not responsibility of a chore or task but the responsibility of a problem. A problem _he_ had caused. The punishment he received; demotion. Deets was now in charge, not him.

"All we can do now is wait, there is _nothing_ we can do" Ol'Skool said solemnly. Whatever little flicker of hope there was was blown out by Ol'Skool's comment. Ol'Skool had no idea how to comfort the couriers, how to console them, to tell them everything would be alright. How _could_ he in such a situation.

"After this, I'll have a talk with all of you" He finished. As Ol'Skool left, he felt a little piece of his heart grow cold.

Deets was taken aback at Ol'Skool walking away from them. She looked at the others hoping to see that they mirrored her reaction. The only thing she saw-the empty shells of her friends, as they succumbed to their inner thoughts.

Suddenly a loud sound was heard, followed by shouting. It was Loogie; his voice was muffled by the walls and the emotions within his tone where mixed and unclear. He was in the other room, but he was as loud as ever. With that noise Burn seemed to snap out of his trance and payed attention to what was happening around him. The feeling was similar to when he had finished the video game and had to go back to the real world. Except this feeling maintained its original, surreal state and instead sent him tumbling into a pit of regret.

Ed, suddenly clung to Fizz for dear life, his eyes shut tight and his arms wrapped around Fizz. She was the closest to him, family and stance wise; she was like a sister to him. She was more intelligent and experienced than Ed; it would've been too awkward if he clung to Deets. Girls were not meant to comfort boys; it was the other way around. However in the sibling world, that didn't matter.

Fizz was startled by Ed's sudden action; she saw his eyes where shut tight and his mouth curled into a small, weak frown. Fizz did not react; she stood there with Ed clinging to her because she could relate to his reaction. He didn't want to be the brave, dare devil Ed he was known for, he wanted to be comforted and reassured just like any other person. And Fizz understood that.

"Fizz, make it all go away" He whispered, not daring to even crack one eye open. Fizz didn't respond, because she knew she couldn't make it _all go away_, she may be able to fix and create weapons and machines. However she could not fix _this_.

Deets flinched at the sound of the noise and stared into space, fearing Loogie might suddenly break his way out of the lounge room. A farfetched thought it was, but at this time, it seemed that many unexpected things happened. It was like Loogie was possessed by some violent, demonic force. It was as if he acted out of impulse, Deets did not know, she was not sure if she wanted to know.

"Okay, everyone into the Team Room" Deets ordered. Ed realised he was holding onto Fizz and immediately let go, he saw Burn giving him an odd look.

"S-sorry" Ed said stepping back from Fizz and giving her an apologetic look. Fizz could only stare emotionlessly back at him before walking away behind Burn and Deets.

Loogie

Everything was wrong. Nothing was right; nothing made sense, his fear escalated through the roof.

Loogie's conscious self had retreated into the recesses of his subconscious. He had been thrown into the real world mercilessly. A place he had escaped many years ago, to retreat into the lovely features of a world he created. The world he 'created' however was just an idealistic view of a world he had imagined to be when he was really, truly living in the real world. Doctor Pinch seemed to be the kind to remind him that he was living in the real world, with his sarcastic, critical comments. Speaking of Doctor Pinch, why did he not answer? Where was he?

Loogie sat himself on the floor of his darkened mind, silence occupying the sound space.

"Back here are we" A voice called. Loogie turned to see it was Brian, walking towards him

"Looks like you have a problem" Brian said nonchalantly "A problem that needs some help" He added. Loogie turned his head back to the front and away from Brian, his face read 'Confused and Worried' (A/N: Not literally, mind you) and his eyes darted to the side and back again.

Brian stopped walking and stood, just behind Loogie. He stood tall and proud and had a knowing look on his face.

"Loogie" Brian said, his voice calm "Your friend...he hurt you didn't he?" Brian said. Loogie held back a sob and swallowed hard, he was still sitting on the floor.

"But Loogie...he doesn't _understand_" He said "_They_ don't understand, they're all living in the world that hurt you Loogie" Brian said, his silhouetted hand glided down and stroked Loogie's hair softly "They scold you and shun you, they're opening your _wounds_" Brian continued to stroke Loogie's hair.

"They don't _care_ about you, would _true_ friends criticize you, refuse to understand you and _experiment on you_?" Brian's hands now glided through Loogie's hair, his gaze fixed on the abyss before him. Brian's words seemed true to Loogie's ears, he felt the impact of his wise, hypnotic voice sink into his head. Loogie felt Brian's hand stroke his hair, it struck him as odd for Brian to do such a thing, however he did not stop Brian from doing it. Brian was careful with his actions; he knew Loogie's mind was in a fragile state. A state ready for moulding.

"If they were your friends Loogie would they be _wanting_ you to live a life of _misery?_ In a world that has hurt you so much?" Brian said, his voice escalating. "Not even your friend Doctor Pinch really understands, always being so critical and realistic, how could someone who has _lived_ with you be like that?" He said, Brian's voice adopted an understanding tone. The words that Brian spoke hit Loogie like a tonne of bricks. The words were true, Loogie thought. Although Brian's voice calm and understanding the words were laced with a sinister thread that lay within his sentences.

"Friends want other friends to be happy...looks like your friends don't value your happiness, they keep calling you out of your safe haven" Brian said, Loogie sat there listening; Brian's voice had become incredibly captivating all of a sudden. Loogie felt hollow, the truth had eaten his emotional being from within. He wanted to be sad, but where was his sadness? Where was the sadness he had felt before?

"You're not..._crazy_" Brian said. It was as if he was reconsidering his earlier accusation. He was cautious with his use of wording; he hoped the risk wouldn't imply itself onto Loogie. The word _alone_ had severe impacts on the boy.

"It is _them_..." Brian finished. Brian's body disappeared in the darkness, he was confident with what he had done. Loogie was now to be left alone and hopefully he would make the _right _choice.

Phase one of his plot was complete. If things went as he planned everything would come together in sync. His body decomposed and spread out onto the dark walls, his vibrant green eyes watching from above.

Brian heard the memories scream their way out of Loogie's conscious body. He had succeeded with taking Loogie's mind away from his body. Thanks to influence, Doctor Pinch was now gone. Nobody ever _truly_ knew the endless possibilities with meddling with somebody's mind could cause.

To many, Brian's actions would seem disorganised and out of impulse. However, the silhouette _knew_ what he was doing. It made _perfect_ sense to him; every movement he made, every word he spoke was all _organised_.

Team Room

The sickeningly, thick air occupied the atmosphere within the Team Room.

Fizz could only stare intently at Burn. Analysing his every breath and movement; her vibrant, green eyes darting. Absolutely everything was ignored as she felt the overwhelming burning in her chest rise up in her throat.

"How _dare_ you do such a thing" Fizz uttered darkly, her eyes bright with anger. Burn turned his attention towards Fizz, his orange eyes dark and conservative.

"How _dare_ you!" Fizz slammed her hands down on the table. Deets looked up and Ed had his eyes going back and forth between Burn and Fizz. Nobody seemed to notice Fizz, as they were too caught up in their own thoughts. Fizz's body tensed and her breathing quickened.

"How could you do that to him?" She screamed. Burn could only listen in astonishment, the sheer ferocity and seriousness within her voice was something no one had heard before. It was one of the rare times that Fizz showed _true_ emotion.

"How could you, Burn? He needed help, _your_ help!" Fizz shouted once more. Ed wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock. Some hero he was, he couldn't save anyone from their emotions. Especially his own.

"Fizz calm down" Deets ordered, but that order was ignored. In Fizz's mind only Burn and she were in the room. Deets did not exist and Ed did not exist.

"Hey, it ain't my fault!" Burn retorted in his defence "He went all _wack_ on me before I could even do anything!" He added.

"Well, it must've been _your fault_ in one way or another!" She replied. _'Your fault'_ echoed in Burn's head, an impression had been left on his self-esteem.

"Fizz, Burn stop it!" Deets exclaimed in distress. Too many things were on her mind as it was; she didn't need _more_ problems and anxieties to think about.

Ed felt excluded from the situation in front of him. A sickening feeling in his stomach arrived as soon as Fizz started arguing with Burn. He hadn't seen such behaviour from Fizz. She was usually so reserved and kept to herself a lot of the time. But now she was letting it all out, was something wrong with her too, Ed thought. He hoped not, it seemed like anything could happen to anyone now.

"It was _my fault_ the first time, _I_ triggered it!" Fizz admitted "So it must've been **you!**" Fizz pointed an accusing finger at Burn.

"Will you guys just **stop it**!" Ed shouted suddenly. He hadn't realised the tone of his own voice as everyone was now focused on Ed.

"I already have one friend who has a problem, I _don't need _**more**!" He shouted. Ed was fuelled on the ecstasy of fear. Ed was so scared, yet how could he come up with the courage to yell at his friends? He didn't know and he didn't care.

Fizz was startled out her own, argumentative, state. Ed and Deets reappeared; it dawned on Fizz that they had been watching the whole time. She was in slight shock about the idea of it but decided to leave it as it was. They would've found out anyway.

Burn was glad Ed had shouted, relieved even.

"Stop fighting about him!" He yelled, his tone was lower now "Instead of fighting about him, help him!" Ed shouted. His body tingled with a mix of fear and excitement as he trudged towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Deets called to him, frustrated at his random outburst.

"To get answers!" Ed replied in an angry tone as he exited the room. Deets grumbled disapprovingly at Ed's behaviour. At least he stopped the argument between Burn and Fizz. As she turned back she saw something unexpected.

"Fizz...you're crying" Deets said.

"Huh?" It was only now that Fizz realised the tears falling down her face.

"I'm fine, really" She said as she quickly wiped the tears with her sleeve.

The release of emotion relieved Fizz greatly. She had never felt so _light_. Although, she wasn't sure how her relationship with Burn would be from now on. She was still quite upset with him, after everything she had told him he ignored it! That was _almost_ equivalent to an unforgivable offence. Fizz said that what happened with Loogie was never _scientifically_ possible, but by the looks of it now there were _was_ some form of _emotional_ possibility and explanation. She just didn't know what it was yet.

This was a score that had to be taken down in the Guinness Book of Records. Upsetting _two_ friends, both replied with negative emotional responses _and_ all in the time space of one morning. '_Ed's outburst had to be a little bit from Fizz too, right?'_ Burn thought. Acceptance; another thing Burn didn't like, to think he _could've_ done something else but didn't. Justification wasn't working for him today, it tore Burn in half. It _never_ came across his mind that Loogie would be so erratic, forceful and aggressive. Such _power_ and _drive_ Loogie's emotions possessed; it was like they had _minds of their own_.

Deets was afraid. Ed had walked out on the group, probably to his room, she thought. She said she would never understand Loogie, she never thought that she be right. Is erratic and violent behaviour reminded her of Bedlam. She shivered at the thought of the man, Loogie would never turn into a man like him, she thought. Deets wished that Loogie would calm down in the next hour; that time would give him a chance to recover. However the clock continued to tick, never caring what events happened before it. A merciless force it was, it sounded as if it was taunting, warning-taunting _always _taunting.

'_Please, please settle down in time Loogie, come on I know you can do it. You've survived being thrown down onto the ground by bots and hover squirrels coming after you, come on you can get out of this'_ Deets thought.

Not a word was uttered and not a breath was heard from the three couriers. Silence.

Ed

The ecstasy of excitement tingled through Ed's body. He needed answers, he knew if he asked his friends they wouldn't be able to form an explanation. Ol'Skool became too confusing to understand. Ed couldn't stand the way Burn and Fizz were fighting over Loogie; Ed could not help but feel he was a bad friend. But he was going to change that.

As he got closer to the Lounge room, the feeling of overwhelming excitement left him and fear was evident. It paralysed his movements slowly, subtly. He stood in front of the Lounge room door; nothing from the other side was heard. _'Maybe Loogie finally calmed down'_ Ed thought, a naive flicker of hope sparked inside Ed. Maybe Loogie wasn't going to leave after all, maybe Ed could help Loogie. Despite the positive thinking, Ed's body still had to catch up on what he was feeling. His hand inched towards the button, hesitant he pressed the button and the doors opened smoothly. Ed quickly walked in and the door closed behind him with a small 'click'.

Surprisingly the room was in, somewhat, good shape. The walls seemed to suffer Loogie's outburst though, dents covered them. The atmosphere was unusually cold, as if desolate from spirit, life. Ed walked cautiously over towards the end of the couch. He craned his head over the corner of it. There he was-his back against the couch, knees close to his chest and arms wrapped around him. Loogie trembled, his eyes locked in a familiar vacant state. It seemed as if Loogie was restraining or comforting himself. Ed wasn't sure; he was surprised that Loogie did not notice his presence.

"Loogie" he began calmly "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Ed asked as he crouched down to Loogie's level. Loogie noticeably stiffened, his eyes ever so slowly made their way towards Ed. Ed felt uncomfortable with the fact that Loogie didn't fully turn to face him. Loogie then slowly turned his body to Ed, as if someone were restraining him.

"Ed...I-I'm scared" He said as he stared hopelessly at Ed. Loogie's movements were rigid.

"Scared of what?" Ed asked, Loogie was talking and that was a good enough sign for Ed.

"Something...losing" He said. This didn't make any sense to Ed, but he didn't say anything.

"Ed listen" Loogie suddenly grabbed hold of Ed's shoulders. Loogie's grip was tight, if not a little painful; it was as if he were desperate. Ed didn't complain, this was the only _proper_ chance he had gotten to talk to Loogie.

"I, I" Loogie hesitated.

'_I wouldn't do that if I were you'_ Brian warned _'He'll judge you, just like the rest of'em!'_ Brian's voice picked up a sudden ferocious tone. Brian's hard work was _not_ going to back fire on him now. There would never be, _in his lifetime_ another opportunity to do it _all over again_; and get Loogie's mind into such a broken state.

"Loogie" Ed said. Loogie seemed distant; it was like he was cut off.

"Loogie, please answer me" Ed said as he shook Loogie a little, fear was building up. Suddenly Loogie jerked back, his expression turned into one of pain as his hands gripped the sides of his head.

"Loogie!" Ed exclaimed, worried for is friend.

"Why is everything moving?" Loogie said in a distressed manner. His body tingled with an odd sensation, it hurt him yet it also relieved him.

"Loogie nothing is moving" Ed reassured as he moved a little closer to Loogie.

"Yes it is! Don't tell me it's not!" Loogie retorted angrily. Ed was getting more and more afraid by the minute, he really wished he listened to Ol'Skool.

"No Loogie nothing is moving, snap out of it!" Ed replied with just as much force as Loogie did. Loogie held his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself once more, as if closing in. Loogie started to tremble and his eyes darted around frantically.

"I need to get away" Loogie's voice was shaky and uncertain. He then shot up out of his spot and attempted to run away but Ed grabbed his wrist before he could.

"Loogie stop it, it's only me, why are you running?" Ed said, his voice just as uncertain as Loogie's. Loogie was desperate to get away but Ed held tightly onto his arm. In attempts to jerk away he pulled Ed up and got a few steps before Ed's feet planted themselves firmly onto the ground once more.

"Loogie stop, you're scaring me!" Ed said. Loogie continued to pull and gained another couple of steps, Ed noticed that Loogie's eyes were still darting around.

"Let me go!" Loogie exclaimed. Something had a hold of his arm; he didn't know what it was. A symphony of nostalgic noises rang through his ears, the beast's voice made unruly screams. Loogie did not _dare_ turn back to see the thing that had captured his arm. His surroundings were just beginning to turn into something; he couldn't tell what it was turning into though.

"Loogie, please, I don't want Ol'Skool to take you to an institution or whatever it is!" Ed blurted out. Loogie needed to know, it wasn't a secret.

'_Wait a second...I know that voice'_ Loogie thought. What Ed had said finally processed through Loogie's mind, the message was mixed, all the noises were loud, but he did catch one thing-_institution_. Loogie fell to his knees dragging Ed down with him.

"No, no, no!" Loogie exclaimed in defeat. This was the end of it all for Loogie. He might as well tell Ed what he wants to hear, he thought. He knew what Ed thought of him, he knew what everyone thought of him.

"Without Doctor Pinch I'm nothing but a _crazy, messed up, stupid kid_!" Loogie admitted.

"No Loogie, don't say that, please don't say that" Ed said sadly as he placed an arm around Loogie.

"He's gone, he's gone, he's gone! You know why?" Loogie screamed in Ed's face. Ed had never seen such emotion in Loogie. It had made him unbelievably sad and sorry for Loogie.

"Because he isn't sticking around with _Louis the wack job_ anymore!" He screamed, making exaggerated gestures.

"And now that he's gone, I'm going to be taken to the _crazy house_, just like _everybody_ said!" Loogie finished. Suddenly Loogie burst into tears and began to sob hysterically.

"Loogie that's not true o-okay, i-it's not true" Ed stuttered. He had never experienced such a deep level of sadness before nor had he seen it. How it made Ed's heart heavy with guilt. This feeling was so new, he wasn't used to it, he didn't know how to handle it.

"Loogie stop acting like this! I don't want you to go" Ed said sadly. Ed hugged Loogie awkwardly as an effort to comfort the distressed boy.

This was an act of pity, Loogie thought. His mind was weak and so was he. There was confusion, so much confusion that he felt. He didn't know where he was, everything changed so fast, things were revealed to him. All this was too much to accept, he didn't know if it was really happening. He was breaking down fast, he could _feel _it.

"Come on Loogie, you gotta get up" Ed said "Come on, maybe Ol'Skool won't take you" Ed reassured, although his tone of voice was weak and shaky.

"There's no use" Loogie replied hopelessly.

"Nonsense" Ed said.

Ed helped the distressed teen up onto his feet; Ed could feel the extreme fatigue in Loogie. It didn't feel right, Loogie was always full of energy and never seemed tired, but now he was drained of every ounce of bounce he had. Seeing Loogie like this hurt him, if only Loogie let someone in, if only he wasn't so secretive of his episodes. It could've been different.

This time Loogie remembered the details of his episode. Every. Single. Detail. The horrific scenes and unstable surroundings that surrounded him and the vice grip sensation he felt all through his arm. The banshee-like screams and insults that rang through his ears. He could feel every bit of energy he had burn up, only to leave the thick smoke of fatigue and confusion behind. This was wrong; he didn't want to be here. Why did he have to be here in all the places to be?

~XxX~

"Nobody messes with _my _plans, pal" Brian said, a hideous smirk plastered on his face.

The shadow began to tinker with Loogie's mind once more, a whole new area of possibilities available to him.

~XxX~

_Brian you inconsiderate bastard! Well this chapter was a bit of a doozy to write; once again I couldn't help but feel I had little ideas for Loogie's episode. Also, if the writing or flow of the story seems to have loose ends or confusing-it's the way it was _meant_ to be XD. All of these abrupt stop and starts are part of it and they will also be answered in later chapters. Hopefully in the next few ones._

_Sorry for the long wait, my computer crashed on me __**twice**__ while writing this chapter. After the first crash I just put the issue aside as a small setback and then started writing it out once more. However, the second crash happened when the chapter was almost completed. I grew frustrated with it and then left it for a month or so. But now I am back. I'm really sorry for the long wait; I hope this chapter can make it up to you readers and reviewers!_

_Reviews and constructive criticism are always greatly appreciated. _

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight._

_Brian and Marcus Sanderson are copyright to me._


	12. Conflict and Contrast

Ol'Skool had wondered whether or not anyone in the Dojo noticed why they weren't being updated on the latest drops. He had put the Dojo courier team on hiatus after Loogie's first episode. He knew if he hadn't, Loogie may have had one in public. Not only would this hurt and mortify Loogie, but it would also jeopardise the Dojo's only form of business. He had to think about all of the options; so that no one would accuse anyone else of being one-sided or selfish.

Ol'Skool sat in his room and began to meditate. Meditation was what kept Ol'Skool, Ol'Skool. It allowed him to collect himself and it stopped him from scattering; which is what many old minds do. Ol'Skool was sitting still, legs crossed, eyes closed, yet he could not focus. His mind was wandering, pacing. His mind would not empty itself of the unnecessary complexities that happened day to day. Something was stopping them.

_No_, he couldn't think about it, it would ruin the meditation process. Ol'Skool had to prepare himself; but how could he when the _one thing he had to prepare himself for_ was the thought that prevented him from Zen.

Suddenly Ol'Skool's mind stopped wandering; it settled itself on a memory.

Ol'Skool began to reminiscence about when Loogie first arrived at the Dojo. Loogie didn't interact with anyone except Doctor Pinch; he was still quite eccentric though, eating odd foods and still getting himself stuck in the air vents. Loogie would spend many hours talking to Doctor Pinch, with Doctor Pinch doing most of the talking. Ol'Skool remembered overhearing one of their conversations, back in the day. The conversation was lengthy, had no specific topic and went _on and on _about nothing, literally.

Of course, bumping into one of the others was inevitable. More often than not Loogie got on Burn's nerves, usually by ignoring orders and engaging in especially loud activities. Burn, reluctantly, attempted to understand Loogie and be on better terms with him; Loogie shied away from the offer by not answering Burn's questions and refusing his offers. Deets attempted to talk to Loogie, but every time she tried Loogie would stop what he was doing, stare at her oddly for a while and then walk away; leaving Deets confused.

It was more than a little obvious that Loogie was intimidated by Fizz's intelligence when he first arrived. She was young but determined and serious; she was always busy with her inventions and had no time for the rest of the Dojo crew. Probably why she didn't notice Loogie's intimidation towards her. He stayed away from Fizz, which was easy enough because she tended to stay in her work room.

Loogie's behaviour lasted many weeks, until one day, when Fizz had an invention to test. It was, the now scrapped invention, titled 'Spring Boots'. They were boots that allowed one to jump very high, with little effort from the person themselves. She had asked Loogie to try them on as a means of getting him involved with the rest of the team. Once he had those boots on he didn't want to take them off, jumping around and managing to get himself into places where a person shouldn't be. Ol'Skool remembered how Loogie's laugh rang through the Dojo, and also how he managed to cause chaos and confusion within the Dojo. That was one of the reasons why Fizz had taken apart the Spring Boots. From that day on Loogie became more involved with the Dojo crew.

Ol'Skool smiled at this happy memory. It cleared his mind; yet he was nowhere near the state of Zen he wanted to be at. A feeling of foggy uncertainty silently latched itself onto Ol'Skool. Waiting.

~XxX~

Loogie's mentality defences were down; his mind wasn't so dark anymore. Brian was glad that this was the case; however it was still too dark to see anything properly. It was obvious Loogie was weakening and starting to reveal more information, but he was still, somewhat, on guard of himself. It was like he didn't want to accept something; the boy was secretive.

Brian knew Doctor Pinch's purpose-to cover up and take on Loogie's distress when needed. Doctor Pinch was gone now, leaving Loogie weak and unable to cope with himself. Brian's goals had changed from then on; he realised the _power_ and _control_ he had available to him. Brian had been too absorbed in making sure nothing went wrong to realise this. He wanted it; he _craved_ the control, although he'd have to wait. Taking up the offer too quickly could easily backfire; he had to control his desire, his plan was going well. It was difficult though; his impulse was strong and it beat inside him, circulating and reaching every part of his being. The _need_ was like a second heart.

Although, allowing one's random impulse to get in the way of a potential plan was _not_ an option. In Brian's book, that is.

Brian walked along and banged his fist against the, now, visible walls. The reply to Brian's banging was consistent-a hollow, metallic thud. After a while Brian lost interest with the new found wall, there was nothing significant he could take from it at the moment.

Brian scoffed at the disappointing find; he held his head high, looked down at the wall and took a few steps back. Brian then swiftly threw a hefty punch at the wall. Its metallic sound rang through Loogie's mind; a small section of it fell back. Brian gave a satisfied smile and walked through the new opening.

"Sometimes ya have to make it happen, ol'boy" Brian said. His eerie laugh echoed throughout Loogie's mind, as if acknowledging Brian's existence.

~XxX~

Ed sat Loogie on the couch; he then sat himself beside Loogie.

"Bad things are g-gonna h-happen" Loogie said. He was lost; he was questioning whether he was really in the Dojo. He couldn't collect himself, not like the other times where he was able to facade normality after his other episodes.

Ed decided to not respond to Loogie's statement, because he was probably right. Ed quickly learned the idea of one getting their hopes up for nothing. Besides, he didn't want Loogie to have the bad reaction he had before.

'_He probably thinks I'm too crazed up to talk to'_, Loogie thought when Ed didn't respond to his statement. Loogie then proceeded to remove Doctor Pinch from his left hand, but he did this slowly, his eyes analysed his much loved puppet friend.

"L-Loogie what're you-"Ed began, he had never seen Loogie take off Doctor Pinch on his own before. Loogie then shoved the puppet into Ed's chest. The action was forced and fast, it hurt Ed and had almost knocked the air out of him. Ed couldn't tell if Loogie had meant to hurt him or not, either way he would still brush it off. This was no time for fights and accusations.

"Take him Ed; he doesn't want to talk to me anymore" Loogie said shakily. It was Loogie going to the institution, not Doctor Pinch. Doctor Pinch was sane, he wouldn't fit in anyway.

"Are you sure I mean-"Ed said.

"Just take him, Ed!" Loogie shouted. Ed did as he was told and took Doctor Pinch from Loogie.

No, Doctor Pinch wouldn't be involved in this. Loogie could never bring himself to do that. He would never let Doctor Pinch go down with him. For that small time he had joined the Klowns, he allowed Doctor Pinch to leave him; it had been something _he_ had gotten himself into, not Doctor Pinch.

"Come on Loogie...you have to say something, _anything!_" Ed exclaimed. Loogie winced when he had heard the frustration in Ed's voice. The wounds became a little deeper.

Loogie didn't reply. Ed was about to continue but he stopped himself. He realised that he was about to go down the same path that Burn had gone down. Starting off alright and then getting to a point where he couldn't keep it in. Ed could've triggered one of Loogie's more violent outbursts. This sudden realisation made Ed want to kick himself.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that..."Ed apologised.

"...I know you...don't like it" He added. This realisation had only made Ed sink in his guilt. Deets was the only one who had the willpower and knowledge not to get angry at Loogie. Even though the situation was not one she would like to be in, she still kept a cool head. Loogie still didn't reply.

"Loogie" Ed called quietly. Loogie had had his back turned to Ed for a while; he hadn't said anything at all. Ed sighed in defeat; he knew Loogie wasn't going to respond. He grabbed Doctor Pinch and headed for the door, attempting to make as little sound as possible as to not upset Loogie or to notify any of others that he had been in the room.

Ed took a sad glance at Loogie before exiting the room.

~XxX~

Deets had left the Team Room, with Fizz following close behind. Fizz didn't want to be in the same room as Burn. Fizz's feelings of betrayal grew stronger every time she would take a glance at Burn, who was sitting across from her. Fizz despised being betrayed. Betrayal was her, personal, nostalgic emotion. It had happened to her many a time; until she came to the Dojo, that is.

It was an emotion that made her feel sluggish and disgusted. And Fizz felt disgusted; towards Burn. She needed to get him off of her mind. Fizz walked past her beloved work room. She didn't want to enter it; it held the recent memory of Burn in it.

'_That Burn, how could he-'_ Fizz began to think to herself. The frown on her face grew into a deep scowl. Fizz turned to her door and entered her room; she locked the door as soon as she entered. Fizz had had some new ideas in mind that she had wanted to start drawing up plans and taking down notes for. Despite Fizz being a technology enthusiast, she still preferred the simple pencil and paper for taking down her notes and drawing up her more complicated plans. She retrieved a paper and pencil from her desk drawer and placed them both on the desk.

Just as she was about to draw out her latest idea her mind went blank. Fizz's eyes fixated themselves onto her blank piece of paper. She was more than a little surprised at herself. Fizz did not normally go blank like this; she could never recall a time when her ideas and thoughts suddenly left her. However her mind was only blank from the ideas. Thoughts of Burn flooded her mind. Her anger and sadness for him welled up inside her; a burning sensation was caught in her throat. Fizz bit her bottom lip; her default mindset to hide emotion was in action. This time though it wasn't as successful or effective as it had been before. Fizz buried her face in her hands and cried.

It dawned on her that she was incredibly angry at Burn and also quite disappointed in him. She was beginning to lose faith in him. Fizz didn't want to go through this hideous cycle that she had experienced a few years back. She hated it.

~XxX~

Deets' curiosity and fear collided. She was stuck on the decision on whether to enter the, temporarily forbidden, Lounge Room or not. She was left in charge of everyone, but if she went inside she knew she would disappoint Ol'Skool greatly. Deets was one who stuck with the mentality 'ethics and morals over rules'. This time though, it was causing stress and confusion on what to do. If she went in she would be breaking what Ol'Skool had said, _especially_ since he left _her_ in charge. He could possibly lose faith in her if he ever found out. If she didn't go in, Loogie wouldn't receive the comfort and reassurance he needed. On the other hand he could attack her randomly and possibly hurt her. These thoughts were volleyed back and forth in her mind.

Deets began to walk to the Lounge Room door. Deets' conflicts buzzing in her head frantically. She looked up from her gaze at the floor.

"AH-!" Deets' mouth was covered by a hand that ended her scream. It was Ed's hand. Ed had startled her; she hadn't noticed him, or anything else for that matter.

"Shh!" Ed shushed. Ed then grabbed Deets' hand and led her out of the corridor and into his room. Deets was quite surprised at this, however she did as she was told and was quiet.

Ed knew Deets was in charge, he didn't know if she would tell on him or not. Ed locked the door behind him as soon as they were both in his room. He turned around to face Deets.

"You're not going to tell Ol'Skool are you?" Ed said meekly. His tone of voice was weak and he had the look of fear all over his face.

"I thought you went to your room" Deets said sternly; her body stiffened with frustration and her eyes were locked on Ed. Ed slowly shook his head, his eyes fixated at Deets.

"...No...I would never have done that" He replied. Ed swallowed thickly; he was intimidated. Deets was considerably taller than he was to start off with; she also had the power to tell on Ed.

Deets sighed and her body calmed itself.

"I won't tell Ol'Skool..." Deets confirmed. She then noticed something in Ed's hand.

"Is that...Doctor Pinch?" Deets questioned as she squinted to take a better look.

"Yeah, Loogie kind of, gave him to me" Ed said as he examined Doctor Pinch. Doctor Pinch was quite soft and flimsy to the touch; as opposed to Doctor Pinch's sarcastic and critical demeanour.

"Gave him to you?" Deets asked, confused.

"Yeah..." Ed trailed off, thumbing over the catfish puppet.

"_Take him Ed; he doesn't want to talk to me anymore"_

"He didn't want to...to talk to him anymore" Ed mumbled.

"I get it now" Ed said.

"What? What is it?" She asked. Ed was keeping to himself; she hated it when he did that.

"Loogie told me that Doctor Pinch wasn't talking to him anymore. Don't you see, it's like what my vision was trying to tell me! Loogie is _lost_ without Doctor Pinch, he can't cope without him!" Ed exclaimed excitedly. The excitement was short lived though, when he realised Deets didn't react to his discovery.

"It's too late now Ed..." She said grimly.

"No..." Ed shook his head in denial "No it's not-"

"_Yes_, it is" Deets interrupted. Deets was in an odd state of mind, for her anyway. It was a solemn, dark mood that seeped out of her body; consuming every bit of naivety that came its way. Her eyes were cold and serious; making her all the more eerie.

"What're we going to do with that information now? I-It's...useless!" Deets exclaimed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. That information _would_ have been useful; however it had lost its value overtime and was now deemed useless. It couldn't help Loogie.

Ed decided it would be best if he just kept his mouth shut. Ed didn't feel too good about himself right now. He felt like dirt.

"I'm sorry Ed, it's just that all this stuff that's happening, it's...it's not too good, okay?" Deets said. She didn't know if Ed understood what she had meant. Then again, she wasn't keeping track of what words were coming out of her mouth.

"I, I'd like to be left alone now" Ed said quietly, not bothering to look up at Deets.

"Okay" Deets replied just as quietly as Ed had. Ed opened the door for Deets and then closed it as soon as she had exited. Not another word was spoken from Ed.

~XxX~

No this couldn't be, it wasn't his fault! It couldn't be his fault...

That had always been Burn's problem. The fact that it never ended up being _his_ fault. It was always someone else. It _had_ to be someone else.

Burn faced these unhealthy, one-sided thoughts about himself at least once a day. But how could one bring themselves to do that, when the person he hurt couldn't control it?

No, everything could be controlled and it _can_ be controlled, Burn's mentality screamed. Loogie just never had any of it. Why couldn't Loogie be more like Ed? Yeah, Ed was reckless, but he could control his actions and was disciplined; unlike Loogie who was rarely disciplined and frequently got into trouble.

'_No, it ain't his fault, he can't control it...'_ Burn thought. It sounded like a lie to him. He could not _fathom_ how anyone could not have control of themselves.

Burn's thinking was incredibly hypocritical. He had displayed the feelings and actions of losing control not too long ago; however he was blind with rage at the time and unable to see his own mistakes.

"_It was _my fault _the first time! _I _triggered it! So it must've been __**you**__!"_

Being accused of something usually meant someone saw a fault in you that you could not see. But this was not the case with Burn. An accusation, by his definition, was an act of outright jealousy and rage. He was in denial of everything that he had done.

When he had broken his mother's favourite vase it was never his fault. When he had made paper aeroplanes out of his father's paperwork it was never his fault. When he had punched a kid at his school for getting in his way was never his fault. For each and every offence he had been sent to the corner and had been commanded to 'think about his actions'. And, each and every time, he would go over to the corner; but that didn't mean he was thinking about _his_ actions. Oh no, he would think about _their_ actions and how _they_ got in his way; he never lost control, they just happened to lose control whilst they were in front of him.

Burn had tensed slowly over the time period he was left alone in the room. His stomach was now aching and twisting, his arms were numbing over, his chest was becoming tight, his throat dry and his pupils were dilated.

Him, lose control? Never.

~XxX~

The end was in sight for Loogie. What would he do from then on? Would he ever return to being a courier? To his old life, that wasn't so old? Then again he asked himself whether his old life really happened. Loogie used to feel like this when he was younger as well. This feeling wasn't new to him, he used to feel it constantly, when waking up, when delivering a drop, when _eating_, when walking-just about everything. It was something of a sudden realisation, like when one knows that they are in a dream. But it's odd now. It was something that no one could describe; they had to experience it to know what it felt like.

Loogie's mind was emptying itself of the very few sane thoughts Loogie was carrying. This was its way of doing so. It'd slowly crank them out and Loogie would notice them and think about it for a little while and-poof! It was gone. Loogie was in a sedated state, he was completely still, yet not tense. His mouth was slightly agape. His eyes were not in that confused, fixated stare but an eerie, wide eyed gaze. There's a difference between a stare and a gaze. One is forced and tense and the other is calm and submissive.

It was as if he was slowly becoming lifeless. The sounds dulled and everything else did too, the colours dulled, the textures dulled-everything. He took note that there was a sound outside. An odd sound, but it was recognisable. Kind of like a siren...

~XxX~

_DERP. FINALLY! This was so much fun to write! Sorry that this chapter is not as long as some of the previous ones have been. Still, I hope you guys find it interesting! Now before anyone complains as to why in the world a service has come right to the Dojo's door, you're just going to have to wait and find the answer in the next chapter..._

_Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated._

_Get Ed is copyright __© to Andy Knight._

_Brian and Marcus Sanderson are copyright © to me._


	13. Mass Hysteria

_Hey readers! I usually do not leave top Author Notes in this story, but I wanted to clarify that the story's setting/time goes through early night, to night, I think to late night and finally to the next day. Just so that no one becomes confused. Enjoy!_

XxX~

Ol'Skool had ended up feeling more than a little down for the rest of the day. He wasn't too sure if this was the right decision. Maybe he should have asked his sensei, Rodney, for advice. But then again, Rodney did not know much about Loogie.

He had talked to the Dojo afterward, but only confirming to them that Loogie would be taken to a mental institution and the location of it. He did not tell them how long Loogie would be staying there. Because as sure as ever, he did not know.

Ol'Skool was irritated with himself, instead of dealing with the problem he sent it away. Loogie was never a bad kid, he never meant any bad and Ol'Skool knew that but...how could he be sure when Loogie seemed so out of Zen*?

Ol'Skool had always taught the Dojo crew about meditation, one-ness, good morals and Zen.

_What_ went wrong?

This sort of teaching was supposed to keep Loogie more in control and together, not split him up. Ol'Skool kept thinking over and over again.

'_What did _I_ do wrong?'_

He thought he had everything in place and under control. He knew the Dojo was going to be very conflicted and broken up. Ol'Skool was going to be very conflicted and broken up and no amount of meditating was going to fix that. He was the one that the couriers looked to for advice; he was their role-model. He was also a lot like a second parent.

Ol'Skool didn't like to follow constructed and unnecessary rules. He may be the couriers' boss and higher authority but he was also their teacher and friend. Being three things at once was very hard for an old man like Ol'Skool to keep up with.

Especially hard since this incident. What would be the next step from here? Continue the Dojo courier service or stop it? Extend the hiatus? This was a situation different from other situations.

The family structure of the Dojo was most definitely _broken._

~XxX~

It was eleven in the night and the room was as dark as a bottom-less pit; there was not a sound to be heard or produced. Ed lay in his bed, eyes wide open as he was unable to sleep. He clutched his blanket tightly with one hand and held Doctor Pinch close to him with the other. Ed was disturbed.

Loogie had been taken away at precisely one in the afternoon. Ed was _supposed_ to be in his room at that time, but instead he went over to see Loogie, _again_. He couldn't remember why he went to see Loogie, for the second time that day, in the first place. He remembered entering the lounge room and feeling the, still, desolate atmosphere around him. Ed remembered feeling the atmosphere, at the time, did not welcome him nor did it make him feel unwelcome. He never could figure out why he took note of such an insignificant detail in the first place. It was as if his senses were heightened and took note of the things that one usually never notices. He remembered seeing Loogie in that position that Ed had left him in and how he didn't move, blink or even seem to be breathing. Before he could get a closer look he heard someone walking towards the door. Ed hid himself behind some furniture on the other side of the room. He remembered hearing the doors open smoothly and 'click' as they closed, just as they had done with him. He remembered the fierce beat of his anxious heart; afraid that whoever had entered would find him. Ed remembered feeling an unfamiliar presence in the room. He craned his head ever so slowly around the corner to identify those who entered. They were two robots; nothing strange about that, right?

Wrong. These robots were _far_ from the ones that Ed had seen. Their metal skins were dull in lustre, their bodies angular and rigid and they did not speak. Cold and lifeless, they were. Robots in Progress City were not usually like this, not even Bedlam's robots. They were full of emotion, had their own personalities, needs, wants and purposes just like every other person. Not these two, though. He remembered seeing the machines take hold of Loogie's arms, one at each side. They were about to leave, but suddenly one of them turned in Ed's direction. Ed could not shake off the jolt of fear that passed through body when those cold, apathetic eyes came into contact with his. He ducked back behind his furniture fort and held his breath. The feeling of being trapped and restrained did his head in. After a few tense seconds the robots began their way out the door, dragging Loogie along with them. Ed never heard anything from Loogie; it was very strange, because before, Loogie became hysterical at the mention of...

Ed's thoughts stopped there. He forced them to stop. This scene had been playing through his head over and over again for the whole day. They were heavy thoughts and were difficult to carry around. The memory wasn't doing anything positive; it only added to his feelings of guilt, failure and confusion. This complicated and dense level of emotion was an area unknown to Ed. His naivety now came up as more of a weakness than an act of innocence or interest in knowing more. He feared that if he fell asleep, he would dream about the thoughts and that they would be worse in his sleep. Doctor Pinch was a friendlier reminder of Loogie than the anxious thoughts he played over in his head.

However, Ed could not fight the need for sleep any longer. He desperately tried to keep his tired eyes from closing, but this was useless because it was bound to happen sooner or later. He finally gave in and was slowly fading into sleep. His thoughts were slowing down and his grip on the blanket loosened.

"Make all the bad things...go...away..." Ed uttered quietly, before delving into a deep sleep.

~XxX~

Burn paced up and down his room, like a lion in a cage. His orange eyes focused on his bedroom floor. He couldn't put out the inferno of absolute _rage_ that he felt. When Burn was angry he would not sit down. How could he? His anger gave him so much physical energy; it was near impossible for him to stay seated whilst feeling angry.

The rage seemed to threaten to burst out of his chest and consume everything in its path. He was angry because he had a mild panic attack during the day; he was thankful no one was there to see him. He was angry because he longed to gain Fizz's trust again; but he knew she wouldn't be able to understand what he'd have to say.

Burn was angry at Loogie, too. **Why** couldn't he just be like everyone else? **Why** did he have to be so disobedient for? **Why** didn't Loogie just sit and listen to him like he was supposed to? **Why** did Loogie have to leave behind this sick idea of a _joke_?

Loogie had a majorly twisted way of expressing himself. He was critical about the issue with the distressed teen. Although, in a way, these thoughts weren't exactly what he was feeling towards Loogie. Yet, in another way, they were.

Every negative emotion Burn had ever felt would always manage to grow into fury.

Sadness, guilt, longing, anxiety, fear, restriction, repression, confusion, misunderstanding, intimidation, loneliness, disappointment, self-loathing, jealousy, hate-these feelings had always managed to find a way to extend their roots into Burn's ever-growing pool of anger.

In truth, Burn had never learned how to deal with emotions in any other way but anger. He was glad that he never had to reach high levels of the emotion often; but it was evident that he attempted to suppress these bouts of rage when they came up.

He was a leader. He was supposed to _lead_. But how could he? Especially since the fog that was blurring his vision, was of his own creation. And, what is even more unfortunate, is the fact that he doesn't even know it.

~XxX~

Deets had been staring at her computer screen for at least an hour. The computer wasn't even on. She was feeling a disconnection from everyone in the Dojo. Nothing was working out because everyone was too afraid to try to do something. It was too new and too sudden.

"But was it really that sudden?" Deets asked aloud, to no one in particular. Deets hated it when she was stuck. She was always on the same wave as everyone else-but never with Loogie. No one was ever on the same wave as Loogie. She wondered if that made him lonely. Maybe that's why Loogie is distressed? She wondered what Doctor Pinch actually was. Was he imaginary like everyone thought he was? Or was he actually there?

Deets let out an exasperated sigh. It frustrated her that there were so many questions that couldn't be answered. A few loose strands of pink hair hung lazily over her forehead. Deets undid her hair, how good it felt to have her hair out of that bun, she thought as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Loogie was sent to some sector an hour away from Progress City, Sector eleven to be exact. Deets had never heard of Sector eleven. Loogie couldn't fight it, he lost but he obviously didn't give in at his own will. It was something else, there was something else there. She could tell, it was like a flick of the switch that Loogie started to act like this.

This switch was very contradicting to Loogie's old, eccentric personality. But then again, Loogie never told the team if he had a problem, or if he was upset. Actually, he never told them anything that was affecting him negatively. When Loogie had set off the MBS, he never told anyone he was feeling guilty and upset afterward. When he was being affected by the Omnis he didn't tell anyone he was having headaches.

She worried about the team as a whole. How would they cope without Loogie? Would they go on as it is or what? Despite Loogie's oddities and quirks she really couldn't imagine life on the team without him. Loogie being gone for a week or so would be totally fine, he'd done that before, but for months at a time. Deets _knew_ he wouldn't be in Sector eleven for a few days or a week or so, no way.

She wished, though.

~XxX~

She never thought it would have to come to this conclusion. It was only supposed to be a thought that would linger at the back of her mind; one that she could add to her collection and look back on in future and laugh about the ludicrous anxiety.

However, this was not the case.

Fizz lay back on her bed in her favourite purple pyjamas.

Strangely enough there was very little to ponder about. It was unusual for Fizz and it was making her feel very uncomfortable. There wasn't a base, a random thought, to hold on to and develop. No starting point, nil, zero, nada.

Slowly but surely, the atmosphere within her room began to feel unrecognisable; it was as if she were somewhere new. This made Fizz feel very out of place and rather agitated. She growled as she hid underneath her blanket. A few minutes ticked by and there was not a sound to be heard...

"**Ugh!**"

Suddenly the bed sheet was flung rather dramatically over the edge of the bed and fell in a heap on the floor. Fizz's pillow suffered the same fate as it was thrown mercilessly onto the bed sheet. Fizz jumped out of bed and lay down on the floor, wrapped up in her bed sheet and her head on her pillow.

But that didn't mean she was asleep.

Fizz was agitated and tired, yet she couldn't go to sleep. The room's strange, new atmosphere did not help her rest her head any easier.

Minutes, but most likely _hours_ passed by and she was still unable to sleep but she didn't know why.

~XxX~

Brian was euphoric all throughout the day and probably would be throughout the night. His wide smile was there ever since the early afternoon of the day. He'd have moments where he'd go giddy from happiness and laugh for a while. He'd cringe and contort himself, trying to control the unbelievable sensation of accomplishment he was experiencing. There were very little times where waiting and being patient paid off, and this was one of those times!

"Finally! Finally, finally, fin-a-_lly_!" He exclaimed triumphantly for the umpteenth time.

"I'd like to see any other guy do what I've done!" He exclaimed once more. Brian was a talker. If he had no one to talk to, he'd just talk to himself. Brian would talk to just about anything, really, living or non-living.

His desires would soon be tended to as they had be screeching and groaning within him for attention and care. The thing was, Loogie would be out of the spotlight and would be secluded and alone. And then things would _really_ start to happen.

"This calls for a celebration!" He announced proudly, throwing his arms up in the air.

"An honourable mention" Brian praised himself. He then walked about as if he were an old fashioned aristocrat, pretending to fix his imaginary hat and carrying around an invisible walking cane.

"But, as we all know" Brian announced, taking off his 'hat' and giving it a once over before throwing it aside.

"You can't have a party with only one person"

~XxX~

He hadn't remembered anything much and he didn't know how he arrived to the place.

Loogie lied in a lifeless, sad room. It was simple. A concrete floor and concrete walls, a bed with a few blankets, a lonely wooden table in the right corner of the room accompanied with an equally lonely wooden chair, a barred window with the ugly green tartan curtains closed and a bathroom hidden behind a faded metal door.

Loogie took in his surroundings; he didn't know what to think of it. Instead he looked at his attire. He wasn't wearing his courier uniform, or his casual clothes, he was wearing something else. Long light green pants and an equally light green t-shirt. As bland as they were they were comfortable and loose.

He was completely and utterly alone.

Loogie began to walk towards one of the walls and just stood there for a while, staring apathetically at the concrete block in front of him.

How did he get here? How...? What was this...How come...? Why-

Oh no.

"Awww, scrap it all! Scrap it all, everything darn it! **Everything**" Loogie shouted as he began to pull his hair, tensing and clenching his teeth at the last word spoken. His eyes shut tight as he fell on his knees.

Loogie screamed and screamed as he was slipping into a mad fit of hysteria. He was losing control of everything, his mind, his body, his senses. Loogie's body contorted itself, his teeth chattered, everything was blurring and coming back and then blurring once more. Damn it, it was taunting him.

Suddenly his left hand became numb and didn't move.

Did he panic...?

Thoughts stopped as soon as they had begun; there was no room for new things or ideas. In truth, his body was releasing all the stress Loogie had put it through, all the things he ignored, hid and repressed. He arched his back and sat in an awkward manner.

He felt almost rabid as the overwhelming sensations and emotions had overcome him.

There was so much stress and pressure; it hurt so bad, so, so _bad_.

They were the screams, the angry bouts, the pushes and shoves, the headaches, the surrealism, the dreams, the nightmares, the splitting, the neglect, the loneliness...repeated over and over...another loud and long scream erupted from him...another wail...consciousness fading...another scream...

His ability to be able to remember was breaking down very quickly. Loogie's memory had always been terrible, but now it was mutilating itself and doing his head in. Mixing old memories with new and removing a few memories and old thoughts...

"Oh my goodness, darling, you have to tell me what's wrong" A new voice, definitely female. A little panicked, concerned.

Interruption...?

...Black...

~XxX~

_Le gasp! Is that what I think it is? New character?_

_Gosh that was difficult to write. Okay, so can anyone tell me if they spot the links between what happened in the chapter before and how it is connected with this chapter? I'll give you one piece of evidence. Remember how in the chapter before Loogie's thoughts were being 'disposed' of or fading? Can you see how this is established in this chapter? His mind has emptied itself the day before to allow for a whole entire cycle of release. _

_However, this is not the only link. There are others with the other characters. This is the kind of writing style and character development I am invoking, this had happened through many chapters. I'm just wondering if readers realise this, please mention this in a review._

_With the last paragraph, Loogie's, just saying that it is not 'badly written'. It's meant to be that way; I was going for 'broken up' and adding issues and themes of surrealist writing. Also the repetition within Ol'Skool and Ed's paragraphs were purposely done._

_*When I speak of 'Zen' and 'one-ness' I mean peace inside one's own self, calmness and a sense and awareness of spirituality (e.g. chakra, soul balance, etc.). Ol'Skool is that kind of guy; I'm invoking his awesome sense of calmness and spirituality here. _

_Remember people, all that's happening is real!_

_Reviews and constructive criticism are always greatly appreciated._

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight._

_Brian and Marcus Sanderson are copyright to me._


	14. StandBy

As soon as the woman had arrived at her workplace she was greeted by the unsound screams of the new patient. It was only seven thirty in the morning and the problems had already begun. She did not judge or complain. This was the career she had chosen and the path led her to work as the institution's psychiatrist. However, some days proved to be far more tiresome than others.

"Darling, tell me what is wrong, I am here to help you" The woman's tone was firm but pleading. Dark brown eyes focused on Loogie and only Loogie, fast thoughts swimming behind her soul's windows.

Her bronze skinned hands were grasping his arms to prevent him from hurting himself. Or her. He was very tense. Eyes darting, searching for normality, facial expression reflected a dramatised depression. She had seen this all before, the horrors of hysteria.

A sound alerted the woman to the entrance of the claustrophobic room. One of the institution's lifeless and apathetic bots stood motionless at the entrance.

"What are you waiting for? Go get help!"

Her angry echo repeated her commands again and again and again...

~XxX~

"Not long now" Brian said as a smug smile played across his lips. Everything was going _perfectly_; all he had to do now was stop himself from going giddy and wait. The silhouette began to whistle a tune to pass the time. His body seemed to relax and un_wind_ itself as he fell into a dopey form of content.

One minute had passed and still nothing. No reaction, no entry way, nothing at all. Brian began to feel suspicious; however, he ignored the feeling and continued to wait. He switched from whistling to tapping his foot to pass the time.

Two minutes had passed and over that time, Brian tensed himself in response to his growing impatience.

Something was wrong. The silhouette stretched his body, beyond the realm of physics and sciences alike until he was near the roof of Loogie's mind. Brian knocked on the ceiling until he heard a hollowed sound. From there, his fingers pressed down on the space as they searched for a small opening, a crack, an unclosed edge of sorts.

_Eeeeeeaaaahhhh_

Brian was greeted with the opening's rusty and cringe-worthy creak. The silhouette's body reformed into its ordinary shape as he entered through the door. The opening was closed with an unintentional slam as Brian attempted to walk upon on one of the more levelled floors of the new area.

"Ah, Window room, how did I not realise your _lovely_ secret before" He said in a dazed tone of voice. Window by name and Window by trade, the Window room allowed Brian to see through Loogie's eyes.

The Window room was a feature within Loogie's sub-conscious that could only be used by the permanent residents. Those who stayed a short time often could not find it because of its awkward placement of entry. And since Brian had figured that he wished to stay for more than a little while...well.

"Wait a minute..." Brian's voice lost all emotion as he watched a woman, a person he did _not_ know, assist Loogie.

An eruption of emotions with an intensity unknown to many occurred within the bowels of the silhouette's emotional being.

"What happened to when they used to throw'em in there and then leave them be until the end of their days?" His voice expressing despair as frustration filled his insides. His chest burned painfully as he began to shake in anger.

"What has the World come to?" He screamed; anger now evident within the tones of melancholy. Brian's body began to contort and cringe as he could no longer contain himself. Brian's mouth curved into a teeth-baring frown as he attempted to stop himself from grinding his own teeth into dust.

How _dare she. How __**dare she!**_

How he wanted to destroy everything in sight. How he wanted to _tear himself_ apart.

"_Aaaaaagggghhhh!_" Brian shrieked in absolute rage as he pulled at his head. As he pulled his grasp tightened and his skin began to stretch.

He _hated_ it when the unexpected happened. How Brian wished to blow everything up. How Brian **wished to**-...to stop.

He had to _stop_. To stop being angry.

Brian could _split_. What was he doing, getting angry over this problem? This was nothing but an obstacle! If _he split_; Brian could not get over that! He would lose everything!

_Every. _Single. **Damned.** Thing.

Brian released his grasp and his skin snapped back into place. However his left eye fell out of its socket.

_Piang._

As his eye hit the floor a strange elastic-like sound escaped from it. Brian stared at his own eye as it lay on the floor, his right eye doing double-time.

He picked it up and held it in various ways before loosely dropping it on the floor once more.

_Piang, piang._

The odd, yet delightful, little sound erupted out of the eye once again. Brian caught it on its second bounce.

"What a strange little sound you make...Not half bad actually" He said. The silhouette bounced his eye once more and once again it replied-

_Piang._

A smile of amusement cracked Brian's serious expression. The more he bounced that luminous green eye of his, the more distant he became from his anger, his plan and most importantly, himself.

Brain continued to entertain himself with this new found 'toy', so to speak.

He then threw his eye out of the door. By this time he had relaxed and unwound himself to the point of extreme content. Only a wide, somewhat tired, smile could be seen on his face.

"Ha!" Brian exclaimed as he jumped out of the Window room.

How peculiar.

~XxX~

_In a state of sub-conscious, there is nothing but the comforting black surrounding you. The hazy smoke inviting you to lay down to rest, sleep, in luxurious comfort as your brain slowly dims the lights and closes the doors and windows in slow, organised uniform. The warm haze twists around your lying form, somehow, someway, it creates a protective blanket that was immune to all things threatening. Such safety and comfort the sub-conscious provided..._

"_Fizz..." A voice squeezed through the barricades and wafted to the sleeping child's ears, passing through her head, it echoed her name as it came out the other ear. _

"_Fizz...Fizz..." More and more foreign voices seeped from under the colossal doors and followed each other, waiting in line to have their turn to pass through her._

_With each voice that passed through her Fizz cringed, the doors and windows were opening and the blanket turned into haze once more. The doors were now completely open, as they sucked out everything around her into the light. Including her._

"Fizz!" This was about the hundredth time Deets had called the redhead's name. She knew Fizz was a deep sleeper but this was ridiculous. Deets' hand was on Fizz's shoulder, shaking her slightly; it had probably become a reflex after how many times she had done it.

"No-o-o-o-o, I don't to wake up" Fizz groaned as she waved her arms about into the air, her eyes shut tight. The pressure on her shoulder had lifted.

As soon as that signal went off she grabbed for her covers and flung them over her head, creating a magical anti-disturbance barrier.

"Fizz, it's ten thirty in the _morning_, you have to get up" Deets said, with an exasperated sigh following close behind her words.

"And what were you doing sleeping on the floor? Get up!" Deets commanded, her voice laced with amusement.

'_Sleeping on the floor?'_ Fizz thought to herself. She got up, the covers still over her head as she noticed there was not a mattress but a carpeted bedroom floor. How did she not notice that earlier? This isn't what she'd normally do, she knew Loog-

Oh.

Fizz had to grow up again.

The inventor removed her bed sheets from over her head and faced her pink haired friend.

"Loogie's gone, isn't he?" Fizz's voice turned solemn. Deets looked down, away from her teammate's solid stare.

"Yeah..." That was the only thing she could respond with.

That was it. Everything was confirmed. It was so strange how everything after that point in time, compacted itself in those few days. Very much like when someone sleeps. A series of never-ending dreams compacted into the short time-space of the night.

Deets noticed that Fizz's body seemed to droop, like it was losing its solidity. It seemed that, in this position, the girl's body would become nothing but thick liquid and melt into the floor.

The pink haired girl cringed in response to the darkly imaginative thought.

_Whoosh_

The noise seemed to awaken Deets' senses. Instinctively, she turned to the area which the sound was being produced.

Fizz was making her bed. Flapping out the sheets and ridding them of whatever dust they carried before neatly tucking them in to their respective corners. Deets watched as Fizz made her bed. She had no idea why but...the young girl seemed different. Her movements seemed to be that of a rusted robot, repetitive and hesitant. An emotion, an atmosphere, seemed to linger in the redhead's forest green eyes. Deets didn't know what it was though, as Fizz was not looking at her but focusing her attention on fluffing her pillow.

It was odd how engrossed the feminine courier was in Fizz's actions and movements. Suddenly the tomboy noticed Deets observing her.

"Do you mind? You're kind of creeping me out with that staring of yours" She said, not coming down from her high position.

"I wasn't staring" Deets defended, her face flushing from embarrassment.

"Yes you were. And what's so interesting about me making my own bed?" Fizz questioned.

The pink haired courier stopped and thought about what Fizz had said. Her stare hardened as she looked to the carpeted floor, thinking. The younger courier waited for an answer patiently. The perspective of things were different from this angle, this height. It was unusual for Fizz to be looking _down_ on Deets' sitting form. She identified the atmosphere-it was a thin tension. Her expression and tone of voice were critical and harsher in comparison to the older girl's laid-back, analytical state.

"Because there's something wrong" Deets finally replied.

Fizz's brow furrowed in reply.

"Get outta here" She said as she began to climb down.

'_There it is again'_ Deets noticed the hesitant and repetitive movements of the limbs.

"Go! I need to get changed" Fizz shooed the older girl out of her room.

"Okay, okay! Geez!" Deets complained.

The door took its time to close the gap between her room and the hallway. The young inventor lay back on the door and yawned.

She rubbed her forehead in response to the new found fatigue. Motivation did not appear first thing she woke up this morning. A feeling of acidic hate seemed to line her stomach.

Fizz shook her head as she slid down the side of the door.

"How am I going to get through today?"

~XxX~

The atmosphere was dull and intensely heavy. The colour in Ed's face was gone as his constant anxiety drove his courage and daredevil-like personality away. Ed watched quietly as Burn prepared his own breakfast. There was nothing different about Burn, despite what had been happening in the past few days. The older boy just got along as if nothing had happened.

This confused him. Was Ed supposed to go on and act like nothing had happened?...Even if he had to...could he? The blue-eyed boy did not believe he had the ability to do something like that. It wasn't self-doubt, it was a fact. He guessed it was just part of Burn's efficiency; the ability to forget. What's done is done, what has happened has happened-characteristics and phrases along those sorts of philosophies. A sudden image of the robots witnessed yesterday flashed in his mind, making him shiver in response to the mental image. Such lifelessness was something Ed had never seen before; it was so _cold_...kind of like how Burn could be sometimes. He meant well but...you could tell when he neglected others.

'_Hang on, how did I get to thinking all of this up?' _Such complex thought never really came to the boy. It was usually touch and go with thinking. Thinking was Fizz's thing. He was more of a do-now-think-later person.

"Anybody in there?"

Ed jumped slightly at the sound of the older boy's voice, as it shattered the thin wall between himself and his surroundings. He was greeted with suspicious orange eyes, analysing and questioning his actions silently.

"What's wrong with you?" Burn interrogated. His tone of voice was always that one level harsher when he was irritated, making him all the more intimidating.

"Umm, nothing?" Was Ed's only response, coupled with a sheepish lop-sided smile.

'_Smart response, Ed. _Real_ smart'_ He thought as he criticized himself internally.

"Well if there ain't nothing wrong, you'd better stop staring like that, Hotshot. It's creeping me out" Burn said as he finished the last of his omelette. It seemed that the older boy thought no more of the situation that had been bothering him moments before.

A glimpse of pink caught his eye as his attention switched from Burn to the source of the vivid colour. It was Deets, obviously.

"Sleeping beauty is finally up" Deets said, notifying anyone who wished to listen to her. Ed had his head rested upon the palm of his right hand.

"How is she?" He asked nonchalantly.

Her reaction was near automatic as her head snapped in Ed's direction, her lucid green eyes expressed puzzlement, and in a way, defence. Her gaze slowly shifted as it built barriers to stop the seeping of emotion as she succumbed to her thoughts.

"...I don't know" Deets replied. Her sentence sounded as if it was half statement and half question.

She then proceeded to leave the dining room, following Burn on the way out.

He saw it.

Burn _was_ affected by the living nightmare that haunted the Dojo. It was so subtle yet so _obvious_.

He never had breakfast after eight. It was close to eleven now. Burn wasn't the first to ask about Fizz. That was highly unusual for him.

He realised that the older boy left the table as soon as her _name_ was heard.

Ed suddenly felt sad at the thought of Burn and Fizz's argument the day before. It pained him as the memories kept screaming in his head causing him the deepest feelings of melancholy, guilt and hopelessness.

Ed concentrated on putting those memories, thoughts and feelings aside. He pushed them back as far as they would go, allowing the feeling of achievement and discovery overtake him. The discovery of a new way of thinking and learning; passiveness.

In a way, though, it was also like losing a part of himself while just sitting and observing. It was as if he lost soul, spirit, by observing others and not having any form of input into the situation. It was as if he had to first empty out his emotional being to process everything, or in the least part suppress it, until it was over.

It created a terrible hollowing feeling within him that was nothing but neutral, unmoving and _silent._ _Nothing. _

Like a ghost that no one can hear or see.

However, what he gained _far_ outweighed what he had, only temporarily, lost. Ed did not need to arm himself with his Slammer, hover board or any form of technical equipment. Only knowledge. With this knew found skill he felt a small spark within him light up. A spark of determination.

There was no urge to beat up riot bots, to partake in a high speed chase, or fight off any of the other rival couriers for a package.

Armed with a new found skill he had _hope._ Something that had been missing from him for what seemed like an eternity.

"Torch!" He called for his holographic companion.

"Yo, Ed! What's up?" He asked.

"Look up Sector eleven for me"

~XxX~

Loogie had done nothing but sit on the bed, waiting. Waiting for what, he wasn't exactly sure, but he could feel it coming. He began to shake in fearful anticipation; there was nothing to protect him. The thick concrete walls only trapped him, they did not protect him. In isolation, barricaded from every world and place known to man, one truly did feel purposeless and alone. Many a mind that found themselves enclosed within the space of the slow, old institution would more often than not, wander and never be found again.

Loogie wished for a swing. A really good one. One that would swing so high, but not too high, he didn't like it when it was too high. The swing would be in a park, no Hover Squirrels. They never listened to anybody; he didn't like it when people didn't listen. No one would annoy him about _anything_; everyone would leave him alone because he would be swinging. No one disturbed you when you were swinging. Not even the little kids waiting for you to get off. Not even Doctor Pinch did that! He was rude but-

Suddenly, Loogie was hastily brought out of the nostalgic vision, the suddenness made his heart rattle his rib cage as it beat fiercely. He felt something in his hands. His fearful green eyes made their way to the source. Loogie found himself sitting on the cold floor, he had been rocking the little, wooden chair back and forth, hands gripped the splintered chair's back legs. Loogie's head snapped back to his bed. It was empty. He let go of the chair that his hands held onto so desperately, the lonely aura returned to the old furniture piece as he feebly crawled away from it.

Loogie could only look back and forth from the bed to the chair and back again. His body began to break into a cold sweat as the fear poisoned his body slowly, weakening every part of his being.

He had no memory of doing the action. He didn't remember.

"No, there has to be something, please no!" Loogie shouted desperately. No, this wasn't happening. Of course it wasn't happening, how could any not remember if they went to a chair? A stupid, little chair.

Even after Doctor Pinch was gone, he still brought him out of the things that had never, and may never, exist. _Repeat._

"Hello, darling" The voice came from the door. A woman stood there. Something about her seemed awfully familiar. She was so calm; she wasn't losing herself and breaking apart. The strange, sudden contrast made Loogie space out.

"How are you now?" She asked, her thick accent made her words seem elegant. She walked towards him; her long dark brown hair followed her. Pink tipped the ends of her hair. She looked healthy, too. Little did Loogie know, he wasn't the only one taking in these insignificant details.

The woman sat down beside him, her calm mood seemed to light up the room.

"My name is Marina" Her sentence ended with a contented smile.

"I will be taking care of you while you're here, darling" Marina noticed the confused stare Loogie gave her.

"I work as a nurse here" She avoided the words 'therapist', 'psychiatrist' and 'doctor'. She knew all too well that when first time patients were told this, they would respond negatively to every bit of help and support she offered. She hated lying, so instead, she learned to choose her words carefully.

"I will be checking on you throughout the day and if you need _anything_ just give me a shout" The boy did not respond to her. She was beginning to worry, Loogie was the youngest here. He had not the experience or knowledge that a lot of the other patients, past and present, had.

The situation before Loogie seemed so foreign and alien. No matter how many times he had imagined such scenarios, the situation still felt new and awkward. He could only look at her, nothing more, nothing less.

"I urge you to try and relax, there's nothing to be afraid of" Marina reassured. The boy's tense aura leaked into the room's atmosphere and began to grate against Marina's weakening calm mood. She realised he was blocking her out ever so slowly, he built walls in between without even knowing it. Every second that past seemed to make the invisible wall stronger and thicker, reflecting everything she did to give a feeling of safety or reassurance.

'_I think, somebody needs a break' _The calm tone of Brian's voice seemed to slur and drag it's words. Hearing Brian's voice made Loogie crack; he no longer wanted this knowing of reality. The boy nearly broke into ecstasy from hearing at least one voice in his head. How they had always comforted him in ways that words could never describe.

'_Her services aren't needed. Tell her to leave'_ Brian's usual slang tone suddenly turned into sophisticated sentences. His voice did not ease into the words to make them drag, like usual. He made sure he was succinct with everything he was going to do in this situation.

"It's okay...I-I will be fine, you can go" Loogie said, his voice indicating restraint. The woman could only give him a small, sad smile. Loogie's disoriented vision of time seemed to make the moment drag on in agony. He didn't hear Brian's, now comforting, voice. Loogie began to feel hollow and afraid that the silhouette had left him. Alone again.

Marina got up and headed for the door. As she left through the door, she turned once more to check on Loogie. Marina then seemed to flow out of the room; her shadow was the last to leave. Loogie waited as he desperately attempted to determine whether or not the woman had walked away from his room. He held his breath as he waited.

'_Miss me?'_ Loogie could hear Brian's voice return to its casual tone. That alone brought the boy the unusual excitement he used to carry. How he missed it so.

"Please, get me out, now" His voice was restrained and weary; vulnerable. Desperation and ecstasy fuelled his body with adrenaline.

'_Perfect'_ Brian thought. The adrenaline that was now in every part of the disoriented teen's body was the very thing the silhouette needed. Brian purposely held back, so that Loogie would feel more and more desperate as he waited; and he would be less likely to reconsider the offer.

"W-what are you waiting for? Just get me out, get me out, get me out!" Never in Loogie's life had he been so _desperate._

'_Naw, but you fergot to say a special lil' word'_ He let his casual, slang tone ease into all of his words and deconstruct them of any sophistication or glory given to them by scholars. Brian loved to taunt and _drag_ everything. To stretch it out and make it seem like it could go on forever.

"_Please!_ I can't take it!" The disoriented teen was on the verge of weeping from exhaustion.

'_Okay, okay, if you _insist_' _

Loogie's expression turned blank as he sat there, motionless. His green eyes became empty of expression as his body began to calm itself.

Suddenly, a new life appeared in his eyes and a smile cracked his blank expression. The left sided smile stretched and curled at the end-Loogie was there no more.

~XxX~

_Finally! I have been working on this chapter for ages! By the way, misspellings in this chapter are deliberate in speech. Especially Brian, as you might be seeing more of that. I have recently been able to identify the structure within my story writing, if you find anything a bit off it may be deliberate. However, do not hold back in saying so. It may be a mistake._

_Also, new character! Opinions of her are very welcome! More about her will be revealed at a slow and agonising pace. Feel free to throw guesses about Marina as well._

_Yes, Burn and Ol'Skool's parts will be stretched to the next chapter._

_Reviews, opinions and constructive criticism are all greatly appreciated._

_Marina, Brian and Marcus Sanderson are copyright to me._

_Get Ed is copyright to Andy Knight. _


	15. The Backfire

"I did it…" He whispered harshly. It was no longer the voice of the host-but the voice of the parasite. His eyes were wide open as his left-sided smile seemed to crack the face in half. A mad rush of euphoria released itself into his system sending the feeling of pins and needles into his chest.

Brian succeeded. But he was not exactly rewarded. This was not how he imagined it to be.

The feeling of skin was suffocating, he could feel the massive organ tighten on his internal muscles, closing up on his neck, trying to block off the air. The movement of one finger pained him as the rush of the pins and needles feeling took him by surprise. His heart beat furiously, trying to escape the grasp of the tightening chest muscles around it. Anger seeped into the coursing euphoria giving off the disgusting feeling of erratic anger. It seemed to swim around his body aimlessly, only serving to provide confusion and discomfort.

"Damn it" Brian whispered harshly. Even the ugly skin on the lips seemed disgustingly tight around his once free mouth.

It became obvious that Reality was indeed unbelievably different to the internal conscience. Brian was not loose and forever shape-shifting like he was in the mind. The skin he inhabited conformed to Reality-unlike his original body.

"Suck it up, it's just nerves" He said through clenched teeth. Brian pressed his clumsy hands onto the bed beside him as he feebly attempted to lift himself from the grey floor.

Strength - something Brian did not have in the world outside of the mind. His legs wobbled as he honestly tried to lift himself up with the support of the bed. It was degrading and discouraging, it restricted him from accessing all possibilities.

Brian had lost all power and was vulnerable; weak. He collapsed, knees hitting the concrete floor with a thud. The sudden sensation rushed through his legs and he winced in response. His head screamed with commands and his body refused to obey them – they continued to send pain through his weak legs.

"No, no, no" Brian began to say "okay, okay, practice is all I need" His train of thought taking a sharp turn forward for the better.

"Practice" The daunting word lingered in the sound space.

~XxX~

_Game Board: RESET_

_Progress: RESTART_

_Initiating Level One_

…

_Level One ACTIVATED – begin._

~XxX~

~XxX~

'_Yesterday _had_ to be brought up. _He_ just had to bring up the topic of yesterday, didn't he?' _Burn thought bitterly.

Ed in fact had not brought up the topic of the day before. Ed spoke the name of the girl whose name Burn felt forbidden to hear. Her accusation echoed in his head mercilessly, taunting him, mocking him. He was cursed with a silent humiliation. Justify everything – this became something of a motto over the past few hours, days, possibly.

He was supposed to be a leader, a role model, a friend. But now, he wasn't so sure. He had descended into lowly ranks in which the abnormal courier placed him. Now he was portrayed as the vile, black things that hid in the cracks of the sewers, Burn thought. No, that wasn't right. That's not right at all. Authority meant the World, the Universe, to the orange eyed courier.

His thoughts took a turn and went back to the topic of Fizz. As the train of thought made its way to its source Burn's mind quickly and shoddily built up something of a justification; a lie.

She wasn't there, she didn't know, she was not as smart as she seemed! If she was she would've understood! She would have seen that _he_ was right and that there was something well and truly _wrong _with the green eyed boy. No one knew but Burn, no one knew about the _wrong_ in Loogie.

However, there was not just the _wrong_ in Loogie but in everyone else, too. They all let it slide one too many a time and look where the _childish_ _boy_ ended up!

The lie in the guise of certainty rapidly began to build itself up until its peak was something close to unreachable, impossible and completely unrealistic.

If they had only done it Burn's way, if only they let him utter an audible scold, set up a punishment. But no, they believed themselves to be righteous things, turning a blind eye on Loogie's actions.

Suddenly Burn's being was nothing but an emotional and fiery buzz of frustration. His face twisted into the very meaning of anger as he ran through the corridor heading for the World outside of the Dojo.

~XxX~

It was taboo to talk of it, to even think of it, was a crime.

It always had been.

And now that the deed had been done it was finally sinking into their heads that their friend was never quite right. They all took it as idiosyncratic behaviour, uniqueness, a taste for the odd and whimsical.

Even Ol'Skool did, more than once, too.

'_How do you fix something that has always been _broken_?' _Ol'Skool contemplated. The adept skateboarder's thoughts seemed to whisper very, very quietly, as if not wanting his conscience to notice his thoughts; slipping underneath the giant moral guardian that would trigger the onslaught of scolding, justification and political correctness.

Despite this fact, the old man could not escape the thought of his supposed wrong doing; not even in his sleep. The night filled his head with dreams of guilt and confusion.

Ol'Skool now dreaded the thought of taking a nap.

Life had to go on, did it not? Although, Ol'Skool realised it may never be the same again. How could it? The old man began to worry about the other Dojo members' wellbeing. Not once in these few days did Ol'Skool's mind visit the threat of Bedlam, and the thought itself began to rot.

Normally, the adept skateboarder only had to think for Ed from time to time. Now, he had to think for everyone. Yes, think _for _them, to advise them to tell them of consequences before they go ahead with an action. He wanted to be the mentor again instead of being the student; the _dunce._

Should he leave the Dojo members to their own devices, to get over this on their own? No, that was irresponsible. Strangely enough, though, the idea of it tempted him to try it. The adept skateboarder, shocked at this thought of his, buried the thought alive and focused his energy on creating other, moral, ideas.

Rodney. What about Rodney? He could go off and ask him for advice, or better yet the Dojo couriers could go over to him and - No. No, no, no, no.

The word seemed to break up and look unfamiliar to Ol'Skool.

Ol'Skool decided to obliterate that idea. There seemed to be so many wrongs in that right. Rodney wouldn't understand it and neither would the remaining couriers. The Sensei and even Ol'Skool himself drew the line between Wrong and Right, Good and Evil, Moral and Immoral.

But what was this, this situation?

It was the deep, dark crevasse that lay in between Good and Evil. People got lost there. Not many came out.

It was a place where there was no 'good' or 'bad', there was no 'moral' or 'immoral', 'good' and 'evil'. No, this was the place where the _simplistic_ notions Dark and Light were abolished for the complex build of the crevasse.

How did the old man ignore this giant gap?

_How?_

~XxX~

_Ba-thud, ba-thud, ba-thud_

He was gone. The heavy, oppressive cloud was gone. Fizz heard him leave the Dojo, his motorbike revved loudly before it screeched into the hover way.

The bedroom door opened smoothly and the red-head checked the surrounding area before stepping fully into the hallway.

The atmosphere was noticeably lighter. Her conscience had been alleviated from oppression.

Fizz's doubt questioned whether or not this was a cruel thought. No, it couldn't be, not after all of the suffering Burn had made Loogie go through, made _her _go through. It was simply constructive criticism, with extra emphasis on 'criticism'.

A small, emotionally unaffected, part of her silently wished that Burn's journey through the city would clear his mind.

The young inventor stood in the empty hallway for some time, pretending to contemplate whether she should have toast or cereal, whilst trying to drown out any emotions. It was inevitable and Fizz's emotions came into play; some had names but most were indescribable concoctions of each other. In the end Fizz figured out that she was not actually hungry in the first place. Her legs instinctively lead her towards the Work Room. She stopped.

She no longer cared to build.

The red-head did not want to test her knowledge on mechanics and science. No, she needed to question, interrogate, the truth out of the people around her; the people who now hid in their fragile shells purposelessly.

It seemed to be a strange reversal of sorts. When she broke out of her emotional barricade everyone else retreated to their own little dystopia. Now she could see what everyone else would see in her, day after day.

Fizz had never felt stranger.

_Onward._

~XxX~

"Ed, I don't know about this idea of yours" The levitating A.I muttered.

"Torch, please, I've got to do this" The blue-eyed boy replied, eyes on the map. The levitating A.I remained silent.

With a few taps the map zoomed in on Sector 11. Even on the map the area seemed crude and jagged. It reminded Ed of the charred and hollowed neighbourhood that resided, dead, on the edge of the city. The blue eyed boy wondered momentarily about the whereabouts of Sector 10 as it appeared to be non-existent. He dared not dwell upon the thought; curiosity would intervene with his intentions. The sector's appearance resembled the heartbeat of a dying patient; it was barely alive. There was little activity in the area, if any at all, judging by the desolate images the computer spat out. It made Ed question the validity of Ol'Skool's decision. He started to worry.

"You've got to go past that Yard, you know" Torch uttered. Ed took no notice of his holographic companion or his words. Instead, his eyes were intently staring down the hover ways, if they could even be called that, which led to the area. The roads seemed to be tired, old things that intertwined with each other carelessly with shortcuts that seemed to be randomly available in places that seemed unnecessary.

'_At least I won't have to worry about using the sewers to get there' _Ed thought.

"Torch" The courier said, if not a little unsteadily "Find the hospital" He was blatant and his voice shook slightly, the nervousness seeped a little into his tone.

The A.I noticed, but said nothing and instead obeyed Ed's commands. Within seconds the fastest route to the hospital was lit and an image of said establishment resided in the corner of the map.

Ed frowned.

The place looked lowly and appeared to be exhaling a toxic melancholy.

'_Don't judge a book by its cover' _Ed's loyalty to Ol'Skool was the one talking; a seemingly distant memory whose faint echo had reached his ears. It was full of optimism – something Ed found he couldn't really trust anymore. Despite this, that spout of naivety and the thin thread of loyalty was the only thing that kept Ed from interrogating his mentor. Torch shared the boy's disappointment.

He stared for a while, trying to scavenge some positivity but all attempts were in vain as his little hope drowned in reality's cold and powerful flood. Several different angles of the building flashed one after the other, each revealing a near identical side if it had not been for the establishment's old and dying state. Shaking his head, Ed shut off the computer entirely, feeling disgusted by the images it had projected into his psyche.

Torch had long since downloaded the route into his database and falsely wondered why his blue-eyed companion gazed at the screen. However, the levitating A.I knew exactly why.

He had the route to the gates of Loogie's new home, after all.

~XxX~

_GASP! Brian you monster! Deets was deliberately left out of this chapter – she has had too much writing time anyway. And Torch returns!_

_Hello all! Sorry that I took so long to write this chapter! I've been so busy with life! Either way, I hope you enjoyed it._

_Constructive criticism, reviews and opinions are all greatly appreciated._

_Marina, Brian and Marcus Sanderson are copyright __ to me._

_Get Ed is copyright __ to Andy Knight._


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